Husband And Wife And Pet Dog Killed By Bear Attack In Canadian Banff National Park

Grizzly bear illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Jack Borno)

JAKARTA - A grzzly bear attacked and killed two people and their dog in Banff National Park Alberta, according to Parks Canada official, the agency that manages a national park in Canada and friends of the victim.

In a statement on the weekend of Parks Canada said they had received a warning late Friday from a GPS device indicating a bear attack on the Red Rusa River Valley, west of Ya Ha Tinda's Livestock in Banff National Park.

Parks Canada said its rescue team had to travel overland all night to the location, as weather conditions at the time did not allow for helicopters.

An emergency response team arrived at the scene in the early hours of Saturday and found two people dead, the agency said.

The closure of areas around the Red Deer and Panther valleys has been implemented and will remain in effect until further notice, Parks Canada said.

Parks Canada did not immediately respond to questions about the identification of the victims.

The bear was then injected dead after showing aggressive behavior, the agency said.

The victims were a Canadian couple and their dogs, according to Kim Titchener, founder of Bear Safety and More and also a family friend.

Titchener, who provides training on bear safety and bear valuations, said such gatherings increased as more and more people went out of the house, but fatal attacks were rare.

"That's the reason why we see more attacks, which is that more people leave the house and unfortunately are not being educated about this," he explained, adding that only 14 percent of gripzzly bears attacks around the world cause death.

It is known that bear sightings increased during the fall as they became more active in looking for food, before hiberning in the winter months.

Banff National Park, which attracts more than four million tourists every year, is home to grzzly bears and black bears.

There are about 60 gripzzly bears in Banff National Park and are considered threatened populations in Alberta, Titchener said.