If you spot a bear while driving, keep yourself and the animal safe by taking a photo from inside the car/Parks Canada

Jasper National Park is warning that numerous grizzly and black bears, some with cubs, have been spotted close to town in recent weeks.

The warning comes after two people were killed in separate attacks outside the park in southern Alberta in May.

Bears roam across the more than 11,000 square kilometres (4,200 square miles) of the park. But at this time of year, they’re spending more time in the valley bottom and close to the town of Jasper.

“The animals may be using the townsite area to protect their newborns from older male bears,” park officials said in a news release. “They are also finding food sources like elk calves and fresh grass readily available close to town.”

Grizzly bears will aggressively defend their prey and their cubs. Encountering a grizzly bear defending a carcass or its cubs is a very dangerous situation.

Parks Canada staff are actively hazing bears away from town, high-use areas, and roadsides. This reduces habituation and ensures that cubs raised in proximity to humans don’t become habituated adults.

The best way to avoid bear encounters is to be alert and aware of your surroundings so you detect a bear’s presence at a safe distance. Travel in groups, stay alert and do not use headphones when travelling on the trails. Hikers and cyclists should carry bear spray and know how to use it.

Grizzlies are especially dangerous when they have cubs/Parks Canada

To reduce your risk of a surprise encounter, Parks Canada advises you:
• Travel in groups, on established trails, and during daylight hours.
• Be especially cautious at dawn and dusk, when wildlife is most active.
• Make noise — clap, sing or yell to announce your presence, especially where a bear might not otherwise smell, hear or see you coming (bear bells are not very effective).
• Carry bear spray in an easily accessible location and know how to use it.
• Keep your dog on a leash at all times.
• Leave the area if you see a bear or fresh tracks, droppings, or diggings.
• Leave the area if you see or smell a dead animal (a bear may be nearby)
• Never approach, entice or feed wildlife.

If you encounter a bear:
• Do not approach the animal - keep 100 metres (328 feet) away from any bear, cougar, or wolf.
• Stay calm. If a bear rears on its hind legs and waves its nose about, it is trying to identify you.
• Remain still and talk calmly so that it knows you are human and not a prey animal.
• Bears may also “bluff-charge,” running towards you and turning away at the last moment — a scream or sudden movement might trigger an attack.
• Pick up children and stay in a group.
• Back away slowly — don’t run.
• Leave the area. If this is impossible, wait until the bear leaves. Make sure it has an escape route.
• Report any safety incidents related to people, bears, elk or carcasses to Parks Canada Dispatch at 1-780-852-6155

If you are driving and you see a bear, stay in your car, and consider not stopping at all. Move on if you are instructed to do so.

At this time of year, wildlife is more active beside roads and highways looking for food. To help keep wildlife wild, you must remain in your vehicle when viewing wildlife within 200 metres (656 feet) of any road, highway or place in Jasper National Park.

This restriction is designed to give bears and other wildlife the space they need. If you are involved in a wildlife “jam,” please listen to the direction of Parks Canada specialists who are managing roadside wildlife. Exiting your vehicle to approach or pursue wildlife is unlawful and unsafe. Staying in your vehicle reduces the risk of wildlife attack and habituation, and provides a greater level of safety for everyone.

Alberta’s two fatal bear attacks did not happen in Jasper. A woman died May 25 while taking an evening stroll on her property near Water Valley northwest of Calgary. Her body was found partially buried. On May 4, a Calgary university professor was fatally attacked by a bear while jogging on a trail near his home in the Waiparous Village area.

Provincial wildlife officers said DNA evidence shows that two different grizzly bears were responsible for the attacks. They’re trying to trap the bears and their cubs.