Several grizzlies in the province’s national parks are providing a wealth of data for fish and wildlife officials through a unique tracking system that was introduced last year.
Parks staff have outfitted ten bears with high tech collars that use GPS and VHF signals to track their movements and activities.
Those signals are being analyzed by a research team at the University of Alberta and the hope is they will reduce the number of bear fatalities.
“At the end of the day, grizzly bear management is one of the most important things that we deal with in Parks Canada, and they're a keystone species that we see in the ecosystem as a critical part of this ecosystem, so the success of this project should enable folks to come out here for years forward and see bears on the landscape,” said Rick Kubian, Resource Conservation Manager.
The five-year project is a joint operation between Parks Canada and Canadian Pacific Rail and will cost about $1 Million.
The focus is on bears and railroad tracks but officials will also use the data to track the bears when they are close to public trails so they can warn the public of wildlife conflicts.
