A Canadian couple who were mauled to death by a grizzly bear along with their dog in Banff National Park have been identified by their heartbroken family.
Doug Inglis and Jenny Gusse, both 62, were experienced backcountry campers who would take two week-long trips each year, usually in the spring and fall. The couple from Lethbridge, Alberta, had known each other since university.
Doug’s uncle, Colin Inglis, told CBC: ‘They are a couple that loved each other and loved the outdoors. And they were highly, highly experienced in being out back, whether it be serious treks or canoeing, whitewater canoeing in the North country.’
At around 8pm Friday, Colin said he got a horrifying SOS message from the couple’s GPS device: ‘Bear attack bad.’
Parks Canada were immediately alerted but they weren’t able to send a helicopter due to bad weather. When they arrived at 1am, they found Doug, Jenny and their beloved dog lying dead next to two empty cans of bear spray.
The grizzly bear, a thin, old female, was discovered nearby and shot dead when it charged at the team.
Doug Inglis and Jenny Gusse, both 62, were mauled to death by a grizzly bear in Banff National Park on Friday night
At around 8pm Friday, the couple’s relative Colin Inglis said he got a horrifying SOS message from the couple’s GPS device: ‘Bear attack bad’ (Stock image)
The couple were camping in the Red Deer River Valley west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch
‘That night was a start, obviously, of what’s continuing to be a grieving process. You have that notification, you know that something bad is happening. You don’t have a lot of information,’ Colin told CBC.
He said the couple, who were in the Red Deer River Valley west of Ya Ha Tinda Ranch, had simply been in the ‘wrong place at the wrong time.’
Rescuers the couple’s food had been hung appropriately to avoid attracting animals, Parks Canada said in a statement.
The deaths were the first from a grizzly in Banff National Park in decades and involved a bear that was not collared, tagged or previously known to park staff, according to the statement.
Colin told CBC he is trying to remember the good times he had with the couple and how much they enjoyed being in the outdoors.
‘I was hiking in Waterton with Doug in June and we were looking forward to many more adventures. As were lots of his friends. One of his friends told me one of the things they were looking forward to was taking their son out with Doug because he was so knowledgeable,’ he added.
‘And Jenny … she was the botanist. She could identify all these wonderful plants that were out there, this berry or this flower. And so that’s the kind of love they had for the environment that they were out in.’
Parks Canada, through a necropsy, determined the bear to be a non-lactating older female, estimated to be over 25 years old. The bear was in fair condition but had less than normal body fat for this time of year and had bad teeth.
Kim Titchener, a bear expert and a friend of the family, told CTV News the couple were ‘great humans’ and ‘great adventurers’.
She said they spent a lot of time in the wilderness and had a lot of expertise, ‘so it’s of course a big shock to the family’.
Tichtner is the founder of Bear Safety & More Inc. and RecSafe with Wildlife, a free resource that provides education on ways to safely coexist with animals like bears.
She has worked on wildlife conflict reduction programs for nearly two decades and provides training on bear safety and bear assessments.
Kim Titchener, a friend of the family who works in wildlife conflict resolution, says fatal attacks are exceedingly rare
She described the slain couple as ‘great humans’ and ‘great adventurers’
Tichtner said there are about 60 grizzly bears in Banff National Park and while encounters are increasing as more people head outdoors, fatal attacks are extremely rare.
‘It’s really just the reason why we’re seeing more attacks, which is more people heading outdoors and unfortunately not being educated on this,’ she said, adding that only 14 percent of grizzly bear attacks worldwide lead to fatalities.
Bear sightings increase during autumn as the animals become more active searching for food ahead of hibernating in the cold winter months.
‘Often when people have encounters with grizzlies, usually the grizzly goes one direction and the people go in the other,’ Titchener said.
She added that while she is as yet unaware of the details of the incident, most bear attacks tend to be caused by surprise run-ins.
‘They could have surprised a bear at close range and had an encounter that led to a defensive attack,’ she said.
This occurs when a bear sees people as a threat to itself, its food source or its cubs.
Titchener added: ‘It’s extremely rare to see predatory attacks by grizzly bears, but not unheard of.’
‘Parks Canada does not believe another bear was involved at this time,’ it said, adding that an area closure has been put in place out of an abundance of caution.
Bear sightings increase during autumn as they become more active searching for food ahead of hibernating in the cold winter months. Banff National Park, which attracts more than 4 million tourists every year, is home to both grizzly and black bears.
There are about 60 grizzly bears in Banff National Park and are considered to be a threatened population in Alberta.
Over the last 10 years, there have been three recorded non-fatal, contact encounters with grizzly bears in the Park.
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