Couple dies after being attacked by a Grizzly bear in Canada National Park

Two people have died after being attacked by a grizzly bear in Alberta’s Banff National Park, Canada. They are husband and wife. Their pet dog also died in a bear attack. A Canadian national park official and a friend of the dead couple confirmed the news.

Parks Canada, the government agency responsible for overseeing Canada’s national parks, issued a statement last Saturday. They received a warning signal from a GPS device on Friday night, the statement said.

Through this they realize that there has been a bear attack in the Red Deer River Valley in Banff National Park. The agency also said in the statement that the bear was killed because it was behaving aggressively.

Kim Titchener, founder of Bear Safety and More, said the two victims of the bear attack were a husband and wife. Their pet dog also died in the bear attack. Kim Titchener was a family friend of the couple. His organization provides training on how to stay safe from bears.

Titchener said the number of bear attacks on humans is increasing. However, bear attacks are rare. In a phone interview with Reuters, he also said that only 14 percent of brown bear attacks worldwide result in fatalities.

More bears are seen in autumn. They forage for food in the fall to store up for the winter.

More than 4 million tourists visit Banff National Park every year. Bears of two colors—brown and black—live there.

Titchener said there are about 60 grizzly bears (brown bears) in Banff National Park.

Parks Canada officials said helicopters could not be used at the time of the incident due to poor weather conditions. Their rescue team had to walk through the night to reach the spot. They reached there early Saturday morning and recovered the bodies of the couple.

Areas around Red Deer and Panther Valley remain closed, Parks Canada said. They will remain closed until further notice.

Parks Canada officials did not immediately respond to requests for information on the identities of the dead couple.