LAKE LOUISE – She’s a good mom, doing her best to protect and raise her young in a developed landscape visited by millions of people.
But up until now, bear No. 142, a 13-year-old female grizzly carving out a living in the Lake Louise area, hasn’t had much luck with her two known litters of cubs though.
Dominant grizzly bear No. 136, nicknamed Split Lip for his disfigured mouth, has killed almost all of her cubs.
“The cub she has with her now, it’s a yearling,” said Saundi Stevens, wildlife management specialist for the Lake Louise, Yoho and Kootenay field unit.
“As far as we know this is the only bear cub that has survived out of the two litters she has had.”
Bear 142’s dad is No. 122, aka The Boss – this is confirmed by DNA. Her mother was No. 72, a well-known grizzly bear and so-called matriarch of the Lake Louise area that died after falling off a cliff in 2015.
Like her mom, bear 142, who is about 13 years old, has been a valuable reproductive female grizzly. Also like her mom, she is tolerant of people and has found a niche in the habitat surrounding Lake Louise where she is trying to raise her young.
Last year, bear 142 emerged from the den with three cubs in tow.
However, on the night of June 22, 2022, Split Lip was seen chasing the cubs near Lake Louise.
In the following days, the female grizzly had only one cub, leading Parks Canada’s wildlife team to suspect the other two had fallen prey to the large dominant male.
“He may have predated on two of her cubs and so she has the one remaining cub from her most recent litter,” said Stevens.
Split Lip has hunted and killed other cubs belonging to bear 142 in the past.
In 2020, the dominant male bear was seen feeding on one of her cubs – a two-and-half-year-old – near Morant’s Curve, prompting an immediate closure of a section of Bow Valley Parkway for public safety reasons and to give the bear space and security.
The year before, bear 142 and her cubs ran across the half-frozen lake at Upper Lake Louise to escape away from 136.
“Adult male bears will kill cubs that are not theirs,” said Stevens.
For now, female bear 142 continues to protect her remaining cub, spending most of her time in busy areas around Lake Louise, which Stevens said is likely a deliberate strategy to protect her young from large male grizzlies.
“Her core home range is probably in some of the most heavily used areas in and around Lake Louise,” said Stevens.
“She occupies those valleys, Moraine Lake, Lake Louise, Paradise Valley … There’s a lot of people back there and she grew up in that area.”
While bear No. 142 has never been involved in a serious human-wildlife encounter, she caused some anxious moments in the summer of 2019 when she punched two holes in a tent trying to get a bag of oats inside.
She and her cubs at that time were scared away by people honking horns, as well as the camper inside the tent who woke up and began to yell and holler. Thankfully she wasn’t rewarded with food and didn’t make a habit of coming back time and again.
Hanging out on the grassy grounds of the Chateau Lake Louise – an iconic region of the park known to attract millions of tourists a year – has led to once-in-lifetime photo opportunities for many a visitor.
“She’s super accustomed to being in and amongst people,” said Stevens.
“I think as a result she’s learned how to coexist with people in such a heavily used landscape.”
Stevens said research shows that bears, particularly females with cubs, sometimes will adjust their habits in order to coexist with people.
“Bears will adjust their movement patterns; sometimes they’ll move or feed more at night when human activity is lower,” she said.
“They’ll also use these high human use areas as a bit more of a security from male bears, and so she kind of falls into that category.”
More recently, a video of bear 142 and her cub following a group of 13 hikers on the Consolation Lakes Trail near Moraine Lake for 20 minutes went viral, with media headlines indicating she was stalking the group.
According to Parks Canada and other bear behaviour experts who watched the video, she wasn’t.
“Just looking at the behaviour that those bears displayed in that video, it didn’t really come across as kind of a stalking or predatory or aggressive behaviour,” said Stevens.
“Their body posture shows they’re quite relaxed, and overall they are pretty disinterested in the group.”
There were reports the cub, which was meandering down the trail in the lead of her mom, may have bluff-charged or shown some dominance.
“We find that cubs of that age are quite brave, right? They’re testing the world around them, whether it’s humans or predators or other prey,” said Stevens.
“They almost have a bit of confidence about them, but as soon as they separate from mom they become very skittish and they feel vulnerable.
“What I see in that video with that cub, is it might feel more confident and a little bit braver because it’s got mom behind all the time or it.”
Colleen Campbell, a member of the board of directors for Bow Valley Naturalists and a former researcher with the Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project, said bear 142 is “prime” for a female in this area.
“Females will breed and reproduce as long as they can,” she said.
“Reproduction is dependent on being healthy going into the den, after breeding in the spring – most probably every year that a female is without cubs,” she added.
“Once in a while a female with older cubs may breed and then spend the rest of the season with those older cubs. Bears are as variable in their behaviour as are humans.”
Campbell said female bears do teach their cubs life lessons.
“There is a “culture” in every region,” she said.
“Females will teach their cubs where it is safe to cross rivers, how to avoid certain other creatures of all sorts, where it is safe to bed for the hot afternoon, where to look and how to look for food, what trails go where and so on,” she said.
Campbell knew bear 142’s mother well.
She monitored her closely for three years as part of the Eastern Slopes Grizzly Bear Project.
“No. 72 was constant – showed little anxiety and little curiosity about humans,” she said, hoping bear 142 will live a long life and also die a natural death.
Grizzly bears are a threatened species in Alberta. "142’s survival is probably due to how like 72 she is."
There are an estimated 65 grizzly bears in Banff National Park, according to Parks Canada, however many of these bears do not spend their entire lives within the park.