The National Parks of Canada are common locations for bear spotting, with somewhere around 20,000 grizzly bears remaining in western Alberta, the Yukon and Northwest Territories and British Columbia. Alberta’s provincial lands are home to around 691 grizzlies with around 65 individuals still living in Banff National Park.
Being inside Banff National Park, wildlife is a frequent sight around the slopes and village of the Lake Louise Ski Resort. Throughout the summer and fall, bears are a common and sought after view for tourists and regulars, with both black bears and grizzly bears living in the area.
It’s usually much harder to spot these animals when the resort is actually open for skiing and snowboarding, but it does happen on occasion. Just this past weekend, what appears to be a grizzly bear was spotted wandering across the trail at Lake Louise. Fortunately no skiers were nearby, but it’s still an exciting sight.
Grizzly bears usually don’t attack people, but approaching to close is dangerous to both the animal and the person. It depends on where you are, but giving bears at least 100 yards, or 400 feet, of space at all times is usually a good guideline. If you do see a bear in your path, take a wide detour or back away slowly toward where you came from and give the animal plenty of room to escape.
