Remember the bear that chased the woman and her dogs last month? Well, she has struck again.
Now notorious, bear No. 148 chased a group of hikers and their dog Momo on Sunday during a hike near Mount Norquay in Banff National Park.
When they first encountered the large bear, the group of three began to slowly pack away, but quickly turned to running when the mammal didn’t stop advancing.
“When we noticed that it was chasing us, we just tried to keep the pace and not panic,” Dominic Cyr, one of the hikers, told CTV. “Usually you are not supposed to show your back and we were not supposed to run but at the same time it was coming toward us.”
When the animal charged one of the hikers, the group was forced to release their dog, Momo. The grizzly followed the dog, giving the hikers a chance to get away. When the dog returned, and brought the bear with it, they continued to evade the animal until they met up with Parks Canada staff and found shelter in their truck.
“They’re lucky to be OK,” Kim Tichener, founder of Bear Safety & More, told the Calgary Herald. “This bear has followed and approached people in the past, which is concerning because you have a younger bear that has learned people are not that scary. I wish they had a can of bear spray that day because I think spraying that bear would have taught that bear that approaching people is not a good idea.”
“We were pretty much shocked all day yesterday. We could barely eat and we just kept talking about the fact we almost got mauled and killed by a grizzly bear. At least we’re alive,” Cyr said.
Though traumatic, the group didn’t let this encounter scare them off. The next day, this adventurous trio (and Momo, of course) hiked the Tunnel Mountain trail—but this time, they brought bear spray.
