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A grizzly bear is believed to have attacked and killed two people at a national park in southwest Canada, park officials said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Parks Canada said it learned of the attack via an alert sent around 8 p.m. on Friday from a satellite device inside Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, according to a statement<\/a> shared on the park\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n GPS coordinates showed the alert was sent from west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch in the Red Deer River Valley, around 80 miles northwest of Calgary, Alberta. Bad weather hindered a response team from reaching the site by helicopter, so they instead traveled by ground overnight, officials said.<\/p>\n The team, which specialized in responding to wildlife attacks, arrived at 1 a.m. on Saturday to find the two dead people, as well as a grizzly bear that was displaying \u201caggressive behavior.\u201d They euthanized the bear on-site \u201cto ensure public safety,\u201d according to the statement. The police arrived at 5 a.m. and helped transport the victims to Sundre, a town about 40 miles east.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The victims have not been named, but the CBC reported that they were a married couple<\/a>. Kim Titchener, who lives in Edmonton, near Banff National Park, and who is a friend of a close relative of the couple, said their dog had also been killed in the attack. \u201cThey were in a very remote area,\u201d Ms. Titchener, a wildlife conflict specialist<\/a>, said in a phone interview on Sunday.<\/p>\n Parks Canada did not immediately respond to requests for further information about the victims or the attack.<\/p>\n An estimated 691 grizzly bears live in Alberta, 65 of them in Banff National Park, according to Parks Canada, which reminds visitors to be prepared<\/a> for encounters. It advises traveling in groups, making noise and carrying bear spray. In Alberta, the grizzly bear, a largely solitary, omnivorous animal that can live as long as 30 years in the wild, is listed as \u201cthreatened.\u201d<\/p>\n Bear attacks on humans are relatively rare, but they can occur when a bear is feeding, protecting its young or surprised. Attacks that kill more than one person appear to be even rarer.<\/p>\n In January, a polar bear killed a 24-year-old mother<\/a> and her 1-year-old son in Wales, Alaska. In 2018, a grizzly bear, which the authorities later described as starving, killed a woman and her baby<\/a> in Yukon, Canada.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Banff National Park described Friday\u2019s attack as a \u201ctragic incident\u201d and expressed its condolences to the families and friends of the victims. As a safety precaution, park authorities closed the Red Deer and Panther valleys<\/a> until further notice.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n