By The Canadian Press

One of three Banff bathroom bears likely eaten by grizzly: Parks Canada

Sep 12, 2018 | 1:53 PM

BANFF — One of three black bear cubs abandoned in a washroom and returned to the wild in Banff National Park this summer has apparently been eaten by a grizzly bear.

Parks Canada says conservation officers found the one-year-old bear’s carcass on Aug. 28 after her GPS collar went into mortality mode when it was stationary for 24 hours.

They say it was found in a thick buffalo berry patch in Banff National Park.

The black bears were found in April 2017 and sent to the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Ontario.

The three sisters were released together in the Banff backcountry in mid-July and started travelling independently almost immediately.

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: April 15, 2024

11h ago

Week-in-review: Street sweeping, policing in Coaldale and #SlowYourRoll

Apr 13, 2024

What's Happening in Lethbridge this weekend: April 12, 2024

Apr 12, 2024

Officials are still monitoring the other two bears through their GPS collars.

The bears were sent to Ontario because no Alberta facilities were permitted to take them at the time. The province lifted the ban on private rehabilitation of orphaned cubs in April.

Under Alberta’s new protocol, the bears must be fitted with monitoring devices and tracked by scientists to see how the animals do in the wild.

Officials have said it’s more of a challenge for young bears to survive in the wild without their mothers.