Busy bear season in Prince Albert National Park results in tense moments for Sask. family

Saskatoon -

It’s been a busy bear year in Prince Albert National Park (PANP) with more tourists than usual reporting bear sightings or encounters and parks staff monitoring the movement of the animals.

“Earlier in the spring we did see more bears than what we are kind of used to,” Ken Kingdon, Resource Conservation Manager with PANP. told CTV News.

At the start of the season, the national park reported an increase of bears grazing on plants along the sides of roads.

A good sign according to Kingdon, since they are relying on natural food sources and not scraps left by people.

(Courtesy Erin Harder)(Erin Harder)

Mother bears and cubs were seen together as well as lone “teenage” bears which Kingdon says is common since younger bears tend to be more inexperienced and aren’t as wary of humans. Black bears are the only type of bears in the park although they can come in lighter colours like brown and beige.

BEAR TRAPPED

In one instance, staff had to trap a bear in the Beaver Glen Campground because it was becoming too accustomed to humans.

After many attempts to deter the bear, it was lured into a culvert trap and then transported to a more remote area of the park according to Kingdon.

Visitors to the park are given information about being "bear aware" when they arrive through the park gates and can also go on the park website, which is part of the reason most bear encounters are relatively safe.

NEW VISITORS OFTEN DON'T KNOW ABOUT BEARS

Kingdon does say, with so many new visitors to the park this year because of the pandemic, they try to ensure everyone knows the precautions to take.

“People are surprised that things that they don’t think of as attractants are attractants and sometimes people don’t even realize there’s bears in the park,” he said.

Overall, the park sees a lot of return guests or cabin owners.

“Repeat visitation here is very high with repeat users so I think there are a lot of people that come back year after year and know the rules and roles so they keep a clean campsite and they know how to act when they encounter a bear,” Kingdon says.

WOMAN'S CLOSE ENCOUNTER

Erin Harder is one of those cabin owners who’s been coming to Waskesiu for over 30 years, and when she was visiting friends at Beaver Glen Campground two weeks ago, they had a scary encounter which started with people in the adjacent campsite yelling “bear.”

“And we didn’t know what they were yelling at first. Then we realized they were yelling bear and we see this huge bear walking into the campsite right next to us. It was kind of panic mode because I had one baby in a swing and one baby zipped up in a tent, and my five-year-old running around with her little buddy. It was kind of scary,” Harder told CTV News.

(Erin Harder)

The group huddled in a vehicle until the bear left, then they returned to the campsite thinking the bear got the message because they were honking their horn to scare it, however it did return. Harder admits, after that experience, she was more inclined to stay at her cabin rather than the campground. The mother or three says, her five-year-old took the encounter in stride and they all realize they are invading the bears territory, not the other way around.

BEAR SPRAY SALES

Waskesiu social media sites show several bear photos from visitors this year and a Saskatoon store that sells bear spray says they are selling a lot of the product.

“We have had a greater number of people picking up bear spray for their weekend hikes and camping trips, as well as our mining exploration and survey customers for their camps and workers,” IRL Supplies Store manager David Nuss told CTV News.

He says they are hearing from customers that fewer American hunters this year combined with dry weather have made conditions ripe for bear encounters and sightings which increased the need for people to arm themselves with bear spray.

When customers come in, Nuss says staff try to give them as much information as possible so that they are only using the bear spray as a last resort.

Park officials are getting fewer reports of sightings as bears start to prepare for fall hibernation.

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