Five tourists have allegedly been feeding bears on the Icefields Parkway during the past two weeks, an activity Parks Canada officials say is putting humans and bears at risk. 

“A fed bear quickly becomes habituated and loses its fear of people and vehicles. That can end up in a dangerous incident,” said Jasper National Park Warden supervisor Jim Mamalis. “We tend to lean towards laying charges in these incidents, as it can have dire consequences for the bear and perhaps for people.”

No charges have been laid in any of the incidents as of yet, but Parks staff are concerned at least one of the bears is becoming habituated to human food. The investigations are still ongoing.

According to Mamalis, the first incident involved an Edmonton family out for a drive with relatives from Poland during the long weekend. The family stopped at a bear jam near the Big Bend, south of the Columbia Icefields in Banff National Park. One of the Polish relatives – who spoke little english – began throwing bread crumbs out the window at the black bear. The bear quickly ate the food, and approached the vehicle looking for more. It came within a few feet of the car, peering in the window.

“They were ignorant of the regulation and the effect on the bear,” Mamalis said.

The family was photographed feeding the bear. Pictures of the vehicle’s licence plate taken by tourists were used to track down the family, as concerned onlookers reported the event to Jasper National Park staff. 

Mamalis said he was prepared to lay charges, but decided instead to deliver a warning. His counterpart in Lake Louise agreed with that approach, he said.

“They were told it wasn’t a smart thing to do,” Mamalis said.

Feeding wildlife in a National Park carries between a $2,000 and $5,000 fine.

The same bear was also fed by a Calgary family shortly after. That incident is being investigated by the Lake Louise field unit, as the vehicle is currently being traced.

A third incident took place on May 30, also south of the Big Bend. 

According to Lake Louise Kootenay Yoho National Park spokesman Omar McDadi, two other incidents occurred 25 kilometres north of the Trans Canada Highway turn-off during the past two weeks.

“Once they get a food reward, they will target that and it becomes a pattern,” Mamalis said.

Resource Conservation officers have been monitoring the bear daily, using aversive conditioning techniques to push the animal away from the road. That means shooting the bear with sandbags and rubber bullets, and using bear bangers to ensure he or she becomes wary of vehicles.

If the bear continues to show signs of habituation, there is a good chance it will begin targeting campgrounds and could eventually be destroyed.

While aversive conditioning is a short term solution, resource management specialist Steve Malcolm said education is the primary tool in preventing wildlife habituation.

“We try to target him every day with pain deterrents and noise deterrents,” Malcolm said.

Bears who seek food from cars often get hit on the highway, Malcolm said. Aversive conditioning pushes them away from the roadways to reduce that risk.

“It doesn’t take long for a bear to seize on an opportunity,” Malcolm said.

There has been no change in the information parks is delivering about bears, but there has been an increase in reported bear feeding incidents, McDadi said.

“Our messages are the same. We recommend people stay 100 metres away from the bears,” McDadi said.

Bear feeding incidents often happen quickly he said, and staff rely on reports to catch offenders, McDadi said. 

In order to further educational opportunities, Jasper National Park has hired two Wildlife Guardians for the summer. Similar to the bear guardian program in Banff National Park, Wildlife Guardians will be sent to areas prone to bear and sheep traffic jams and educate the public.

“We have just as much a problem with sheep,” Malcolm said. “The wildlife guardians might set up an information booth to educate the public.”

Once an animal is fed by humans, its chance of survival drops dramatically, Malcolm said.

“The Bear guardian program has been running for several years. They spend their time in areas where there are higher rates of bear jams and they will provide info on how to keep bears wild,” McDadi said.

Bear feeding has been rare in the National Parks, but Mamalis said there has been an increase in recent years.