Grizzly bear kills couple and their dog at Banff National Park in Canada

Fucking hell. My wife and I wanted to plan our next hiking trip and go to Banff, then started reading about the grizzly threat. It seemed real, and there are so many beautiful places to go, so we dropped it.

Then, about a week ago, a guy in the gym at work is telling me about his trip to Banff where they took their kids along too. I started thinking maybe we should go for it. Now I read this awful news. Suddenly it once more seems like a bad idea.

Article says responders killed the bear, so technically it should be safer now...
Bear attacks are incredibly rare. Bears are usually docile creatures and don't want anything to do with humans.
- Is that true of grizzlies? Seems to me they're only docile if they're full.
This is making headline news because of how rare it is. Something to think about.

Interesting editorial choice to stick a photo of a sick sunrise in the middle of an article about a bear mauling.

"only 14% of grizzly bear attacks are fatal" seems like this just downplays the danger. If a product on the shelves had "only 14%" chance of causing cancer people would be livid.

Considering bears are 8ft long 900lbs killing machines an 86% survival rate is actually pretty fucking good.
Also if you're dumb enough to downplay the danger involving grizzly bears for any reason you're not going to live long anyway
- Pretty sure that is another way of saying 86% of people can successfully play dead.
  Remember folks: If it's black, fight back. If it's brown, lie down. If it's white, goodnight.
Ok, but how likely is a grizzly attack?
According to the US Natl Park Service it is 1 in 2.1 million. Dying from a bee sting is more likely.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/150916-bears-attacks-animals-science-north-america-grizzlies
- Well dying from a bee sting if you’re allergic is pretty common if you don’t have an epi pen. So yes, common.
  There is a massive difference and approach to bears it on a special park Vs wild.
  Over in your city folk safari zoo, in which you think you’re ‘in the wild’, you are not.
  In the wild, Grizzlies will rip you. https://youtu.be/K-Tfq6dARGk?si=EQLh0ahqdzOVkRWJ
  They are very fuckin dangerous. And very fuckin fast. They eat other grizzly bears without mercy too. Especially if there’s not enough salmon around.
  In Canada kills by bears in the green belt is a known risk and they have procedures to try to lessen interference with the wild life for this reason. That’s the only reason why the deaths are down. It’s not like rural people are flaunting themselves at wildlife and have them as pets. The deaths start going up when city folk start wandering into the wild thinking every bear is a big ol puppy dog.
What an odd correlation: bear attacks and products on shelves.
Are you implying that people might want to purchase bear attacks? Like a carnival ride?
And there are a good number of products that do have a good chance of causing cancer...so...what was your point?
- You seem to not understand that there are idiots that see a bear and think it’s perfectly ok to go up and pet it like a dog.
“Sharks don’t actually try to kill humans, they just get curious and take exploratory bites”
Obviously that’s not a direct quote, but I people say things like it in defense of sharks frequently.
- Lol.
- There's actually an interesting statistic where bear attacks from black bears are more likely to happen from the males, whereas attacks from grizzlies are more likely to happen from the females.
  Black bear cubs have a strategy to run up the nearest tree when threatened and the mama bear guards the base of the tree rather than going on the offensive, so you are able to back away and avoid an attack a lot easier than a female grizzly, since grizzly cubs don't instinctually climb trees when threatened but inside rely on the mother to defend them by going on the offensive.
Well also if your spine is cracked but your alive, its not fatal.
- If my spine is cracked I'm probably not making it out of the back country to get the medical care I need in order to not die.

See, stuff like this is why I stay inside. The bears can have the outdoors.

The bears can share the outdoors with people. This story is light on details but bear spray is considered the best defense against bear.
I've camped many times in bear country and slept in a tent. I kept bear spray with me at all times and fortunately had no problems...knock on wood. Most of the time it is OK but you have to be intelligent about it. Don't leave food out, carry bear spray, stay away from bear as much as possible, etc.
Also, there are plenty of great outdoor places you can go that don't have bear. Not saying they're risk free, almost nowhere is risk free. But there are "safer" parks, etc. (not "safe", just "safer").
I would never want to be only stuck inside. There's too much amazing to see outside.
- Bear balls! That's what my wife and I use (along with bear spray and a 10mm). Little jingly balls you hook into your backpack. Now just walking makes a continuous noise.
- Do you spray it directly at the bear? Or is it a kind of repellent that you spray on yourself/your tent? ETA: Thanks for your answers!
Staying inside is no defence against bears.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT5LI21dY_4

a shotgun is probably the only thing that would've saved them. or, just choosing not to hike in bear country at this time of year. This is when the more desperate bears will eat anything that moves. They aren't picky, and playing dead will not save you if a bear is extremely hungry, as they are in drought conditions. just a tragic reminder that bears can and will kill, and eat you under certain circumstances.

Should have brought a gun.

No. Should have brought bear spray. Apparently the latest wisdom is that guns aren't very effective against bear but the spray is.
ETA: Here is Wikipedia on the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beardanger
- Porque no las dos
- What? That link immediately refutes this claim in the next sentence "Although this claim has been disputed because of the 83 incidents in the Smith study[10] only 18 cases involved an aggressive bear, and of those 18 only 9 involved a charging bear."
If they have the right to bear arms, so shall I.
Agree but you need to be very mindful for the type of gun.
Any more typical pistol like 9mm, 380, 45ACP won't do much against a bear. 10mm high penetration rounds (ie not holopoints, hard cast is preferable) is probably the minimum I'd want if I can't carry a rifle in bear country.
A lot of common calibers really don't do much against a damn grizzly, those bastards have every possible cheat code active.
Good ol idiot gun nuts piping in to let us know that every problem can be solved with more guns.
- What are you on. Life and death situations are textbook uses for guns no matter how antigun rights you are.
- From someone firmly against the proliferation of firearms, I think taking a gun on a camping trip where there might be bears is a pretty solid idea.
- Gun owners have to pipe in whenever there's a legitimate reason for a firearm otherwise the narrative is that we only have them because we love mass shootings and dead children.