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Wanker
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Who’s the daddy? Grizzly bear No. 122, apparently.
Wildlife officials in Banff National Park have been testing DNA to learn more about the grizzly bear population and density in the area.
Early results show No. 122, a well-known large male bear known by some locals as The Boss, has fathered at least five of the young bears in the park.
“It was a little bit of a surprise,” said Steve Michel, human-wildlife conflict specialist with Banff National Park. “Well, it is and it isn’t. It isn’t from the standpoint that he is the dominant bear on the landscape.”
The bear, made famous after he ate a black bear, is the father of all three of well-known grizzly No. 64’s offspring: No. 144, No. 148 and an unmarked female.
The now four-year-old bears were left on their own after No. 64, known as the matriarch of the Bow Valley, disappeared almost two years ago. It’s believed she died of natural causes at the age of 24.
A year earlier, the approximately 300-kilogram male also fathered both of No. 72’s cubs around Lake Louise, where they spend a lot of their time.
The now five-year-old blond-coloured bears have been on their own since 2013.
Both females, they were collared and numbered by parks staff as No. 142 and No. 143 last summer.
Michel said there are likely other bears that are offspring of No. 122.
“I would say there’s a high likelihood,” he said, noting they’ve only tested the DNA of bears they’ve either handled for collaring or obtained hair samples as part of an ongoing research project.
The project, announced in 2010 with a $1-million commitment from Canadian Pacific Railway as a way to reduce grizzly bear mortality on the tracks, is in its fourth year of a five-year study.
Wildlife officials in Banff National Park have been testing DNA to learn more about the grizzly bear population and density in the area.
Early results show No. 122, a well-known large male bear known by some locals as The Boss, has fathered at least five of the young bears in the park.
“It was a little bit of a surprise,” said Steve Michel, human-wildlife conflict specialist with Banff National Park. “Well, it is and it isn’t. It isn’t from the standpoint that he is the dominant bear on the landscape.”
The bear, made famous after he ate a black bear, is the father of all three of well-known grizzly No. 64’s offspring: No. 144, No. 148 and an unmarked female.
The now four-year-old bears were left on their own after No. 64, known as the matriarch of the Bow Valley, disappeared almost two years ago. It’s believed she died of natural causes at the age of 24.
A year earlier, the approximately 300-kilogram male also fathered both of No. 72’s cubs around Lake Louise, where they spend a lot of their time.
The now five-year-old blond-coloured bears have been on their own since 2013.
Both females, they were collared and numbered by parks staff as No. 142 and No. 143 last summer.
Michel said there are likely other bears that are offspring of No. 122.
“I would say there’s a high likelihood,” he said, noting they’ve only tested the DNA of bears they’ve either handled for collaring or obtained hair samples as part of an ongoing research project.
The project, announced in 2010 with a $1-million commitment from Canadian Pacific Railway as a way to reduce grizzly bear mortality on the tracks, is in its fourth year of a five-year study.
