Crowsnest Pass, Alta – RCMP say a male hiker was badly mauled by a bear in the Crowsnest Pass on Friday.
A source said the hiker was with another person when he was injured in the encounter which RCMP said occurred in the Allison Creek Road area northwest of Coleman.
“A hiker had sent a Garmin SOS which led to a male being transported by STARS (air ambulance),” said Cpl. Gina Slaney, adding RCMP was alerted to the incident at around 1:20 p.m.
The man in his 40s was transported to Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, said STARS.
It’s not clear if the bear involved was a grizzly or a black bear, Slaney said.
Said Sheena Campbell, a spokeswoman with Alberta Public Safety and Emergency Services in an email: “Fish and wildlife officers are currently responding and assisting the RCMP in the area.”
The incident is the latest bear mauling in Alberta following one just northwest of Calgary in late August that left a bow hunter who was seeking elk with non-life-threatening injuries.
In that encounter, a grizzly sow with cubs attacked the man who managed to blast it with bear spray.
DNA samples from the incident indicated the grizzly involved was the same bear that killed 59-year-old University of Calgary professor David Lertzman in May 2021 near the village of Waiparous, northwest of Calgary.
The bear involved in that attack has not been caught by Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers.
Former provincial fish and wildlife officer John Clarke, who now operates a bear safety consultancy in the Crowsnest Pass, says hikers and hunters must be prepared for encounters with the animals, who are now fattening up for winter.
“Animals are searching for food and hunters are out, it’s hunting season,” said Clarke.
He didn’t want to speculate on what happened to the hiker in Crowsnest Pass, who was in an area popular with outdoor enthusiasts.
“Every situation’s different … are they triggering (the bear)?” he said.
The berry crop this year for bears is generally poor, said Clarke, with “some bears looking pretty healthy, some are looking skinny.”
