Western Canada: A rare, gruesome grizzly bear attack in Alberta

Hi everyone, Mark Iype in Edmonton today.

It is not uncommon for bears to wander down from the foothills in Southern Alberta, attracted to farms by a potential smorgasbord of grain and livestock. But what happened this week at a ranch about 200 kilometres south of Calgary, even wildlife experts say is very rare.

According the Alberta Fish and Wildlife, a grizzly bear and her two cubs are suspected of killing 17 sheep and five lambs in a gruesome attack that left people stunned.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Mike Walter from the Spring Point Hutterite Colony. “It’s just dead sheep everywhere, torn apart.”

In an interview with The Globe and Mail’s Kelsea Arnett this week, Walter says he was “shocked” after a farmhand alerted him to the massacre on the ranch that left sheep carcasses strewn across their pen.

The number of grizzlies in Alberta has been steadily on the rise since the province listed the carnivores as a threatened species in 2006. According to the most recent census, conducted in 2021, the Alberta population is estimated to be between 856 and 973, a significant increase from previous years when it was below 700.

But while that’s good news, the rising population means it becomes more likely the bears may venture closer to ranchland, according to University of Calgary biologist Kathreen Ruckstuhl.

Ruckstuhl says bear-livestock confrontations remain fairly infrequent, but predators killing large numbers of animals isn’t unheard of.

“It is not uncommon for a bear, or carnivores in general, to kill more animals than ‘needed’ given the opportunity,” she said.

An Alberta Fish and Wildlife officer investigated this week’s incident and the agency confirmed the attack was likely by a sow and her two cubs. Officials have set two traps to capture and relocate the bears.

Walter said the scope of the destruction seemed extreme, considering it looked like the bears “hardly fed on anything.”

“It was almost like for fun,” he said.

Walter is now left to deal with the financial fallout of losing so many animals at once.

Alberta Fish and Wildlife offers either full or partial compensation depending on whether an attack is a “confirmed” or “probable kill.” So Walter will get some of his money back.

This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.