Two hikers could owe Banff National Park $25,000 for a trail encounter their dog had with a grizzly bear. Brook and Kraig Koski from Washington posted a video July 21 of a grizzly approaching them and their dog, Lola. In the video, a man presumed to be Kraig Koski, is seen backing up with bear spray in his hands.
“Lola come here!” says the person holding the camera. Brook Koski is unseen, but credited for the footage. “What are we going to do? We gotta get off the trail. He wants the trail.”
Lola barks, but it’s not the barking that’s the biggest problem. It’s the lunging. The dog is not on a leash. Pets must be leashed in Banff National Park so when the video went viral, the park noticed.
“As a result of an investigation, Park Wardens have identified the individuals involved and laid charges for having an off-leash dog under section five of the National Parks of Canada Domestic Animal Regulations,” Parks Canada wrote in an emailed statement.
“Failing to keep your pets leashed in the national parks poses risks to pets and wildlife,” the statement says. “Bears and other wildlife may react aggressively toward dogs they view as threats, resulting in their injury or death. Off-leash dogs can also cause wildlife stress, leading to them avoiding important habitat and sources of food. Always keep your pets on leash when visiting national parks.”
Couple has ‘terrifying’ encounter with bear on hiking trail near Banff
The recording lasts about a minute and a half. During that time, the dog is never leashed or picked up. The small, terrier-sized K-9 doesn’t get between the man and the bear, but stays close to the man’s heels most of the time. The person recording says, “Don’t fall again” as the man continues to back up while yelling “Back off. Get out of here.”
“We gotta wait him out,” states the man in the video while continuing to back away from the advancing grizzly. “He’s gotta eventually go in the woods.”
That ‘he’ is actually a ‘she.’ The bear was a 16-year-old female, designated Grizz No. 142, and is one of the park’s most well-known bears. She’s added several cubs to the park’s grizzly population in recent years.
“The safety of them, their pets and other people is far more important than getting that video,” Nick de Ruyter, WildSmart program director for the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley program director told CBC. “There was so much time in the video to grab the dog and put it on a leash. It’s not just, ‘I’m going to take a quick selfie.’ There are consequences to those actions and it will affect the wildlife.”
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The Koski encounter was recorded on Taylor Lake Trail. It’s about 10 miles east of Lake Louise, which is among the most visited destinations in all of Canada. The area hosts nearly 3 million visitors annually and is home to about 20 grizzlies, which constitute one third of Banff’s grizzly bear population.
The Koskis, who post videos of hiking trips with their dogs, were not injured by the bear that finally left the trail. Neither was the dog nor Grizz No. 142, but the charges still stand. Park law requires pets be on a leash of nine feet or shorter. An unleashed pet in a national park can result in a fine of up to $25,000.
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