In a devastating event last Friday, a couple trekking through Canada's Banff National Park faced a fatal encounter with a grizzly bear.
Doug Inglis and Jenny Gusse - both 62 years old and ardent lovers of the outdoors - lost their lives during their backcountry camping trip, leaving behind a harrowing final message to loved ones.
The couple's identities were confirmed by Doug’s uncle, Colin Inglis, who told Canadian broadcaster CBC: "They are a couple that loved each other and loved the outdoors... highly experienced in being out back."
Utilizing their Garmin inReach - a popular GPS device allowing communication from isolated locations - the couple kept Colin posted about their journey. On Friday (September 29), Colin says that Doug and Jenny informed their families that they hadn't reached their intended location, but assured their loved ones that they were safe, having settled at another site.
However, the peace was short-lived. Colin later received a distressing SOS on his Garmin GPS that read: "'Bear attack bad.'"
The Parks Canada Agency also received an alert about a bear attack near the Red Deer River Valley west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch around 8:00PM (MT).
A helicopter-borne response team, dispatched at 10:31PM, could only reach the site by 2:00AM on Saturday due to adverse weather. They discovered the tragic sight of the couple and their border collie, victims of the grizzly attack.
Describing the tragic scene, Colin said: "There was a struggle and the struggle didn't stay in one place," before adding that, "one can of bear spray had been fully discharged but this bear was not to be deterred."
Parks Canada has since added that two cans of bear spray were found at the scene, and the couple's food and supplies had been hung appropriately.
The team subsequently located and had to fatally shoot the suspected grizzly. Following this, the area of the attack within Banff National Park was sealed off.
Subsequent tests on the bear showed that it had a "lower than normal body fat", per Parks Canada.
While bear attacks in the park are infrequent, their implications are tragic.
Over the last decade, Banff has recorded three non-fatal, direct encounters with grizzlies. The park expressed: "This incident is the first grizzly bear-caused fatality recorded in Banff National Park in decades,” revealing the rarity of such occurrences. The park, expressing its condolences via Facebook, stated: "This is a tragic incident."
However, the park's response also hints at a broader issue. The founder of Bear Safety and More, Kim Titchener, highlighted: "It's really just the reason why we're seeing more attacks, which is more people heading outdoors and unfortunately not being educated on this."
Banff is home to both black and grizzly bears, with around 60 grizzlies deemed a threatened population in Alberta.
Our thoughts go out to Doug and Jenny's loved ones at this time.
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