Study suggests grizzly-human conflict rising in southwestern Alberta
EDMONTON — Newly published research suggests conflict between humans and grizzlies in the mountains and foothills of southwestern Alberta has been growing for more than a decade.
“We started to see substantial increase in the incidents starting in about 2006,” said Andrea Morehouse, a scientist at the University of Alberta.
“Not only are we seeing these incidents increase in number and frequency, we’re also seeing them occur on increasingly eastern areas of the landscape.”
Morehouse and her colleagues went through more than 6,300 provincial government documents that recorded human contact with grizzlies, black bears, wolves and cougars from 1999 to 2014. That contact ranged from a distant sighting to a dangerous or destructive encounter.