Grizzly bear 122 has survived being hit by freight trains and cars while roaming a 2,000-square-kilometer territory in Canada’s oldest national park.
Known locally as the Boss, the 700-pound animal has fathered many of the bears in Banff National Park and become a celebrity among the park’s 4.5 million annual visitors.
“Give him a break,” Paul Kalra, a gas station owner and nature photographer who drew attention to the bear more than 20 years ago and is widely credited with naming him, said. “Even the movie stars that are most famous, they go incognito with sunglasses when they go to have a burger, you know? I want same thing for the Boss.”
About 75 grizzly bears roam the 6,641 square kilometers of Banff National Park. The Boss stands out because his home turf overlaps with the park’s main tourist gateway, frequently triggering traffic-halting bear jams when he eats dandelions near the Trans-Canada Highway.
David Laskin, a Parks Canada wildlife ecologist, said the danger most grizzlies pose is overstated by visitors. Berries, roots, and plant materials make up about 90 percent of a grizzly’s diet, with the Boss capable of consuming about 200,000 buffaloberries a day.
“A lot of people rob themselves of enjoyable experiences in the wilderness because they’re scared of bears,” Laskin said at a park picnic table. “Bears need to be respected. Getting close to a bear: There’s a risk for you but also for the bear especially. We don’t want to put bears in a situation where they have to defend themselves.”
Park officials classify the Boss as habituated because he largely ignores people if left alone. Bill Hunt, the former natural resources conservation manager at Banff, recalled the bear walking within 12 feet of his Canmore house.
“That’s why he got that name,” Hunt said. “He could have gone around, he could have gone down the power line, 20 feet below the house. But he came right down the middle of the road — big white claws hanging over the front.”
Kalra noted the animal’s consistent calm around residents and tourists. “The biggest thing is his gentleness and his respect towards the people,” Kalra said. “He has never done any harm to anyone.”
Now in his mid-20s, the Boss is reaching an advanced age for a wild grizzly bear. Park staff occasionally direct him away from campgrounds and towns when the park’s network of trail cams, sightings and paw prints suggests he’s headed that way.
Earlier this year, researchers captured the bear when he was found in a trap set for another study bear. “We thought he was too smart for that,” Laskin said.
Technicians gave the animal a sedative, checked his condition, and put a tracking collar on him that vanished shortly thereafter, likely during a skirmish. Laskin said that despite his age and worn teeth, the bear shows no standard physical signs of decline.
The Boss weighs approximately 700 pounds, maintaining his massive size largely on a diet of roots, plants, and up to 200,000 buffaloberries a day.
About 75 grizzly bears roam the mountains, rivers, and valleys across Banff National Park’s 6,641 square kilometers.
The bear earned the name after locals repeatedly observed him walking directly down the middle of roads and dominating his 2,000-square-kilometer territory.
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