Animals, like those in Jasper, know how to dodge wildfires, say biologists
CTV
Parks Canada wants everyone to know that despite the wildfire scorching Jasper National Park, Bear 222 is OK.
Parks Canada wants everyone to know that despite the wildfire scorching Jasper National Park, Bear 222 is OK.
"She looks like a very healthy grizzly bear right now," the federal agency said on a social media thread.
The bear, fitted with a radio tracking collar, has been followed since the blaze began last week.
"Grizzly Bear 222 and her two cubs tucked themselves into a wet spot by the Athabasca River."
Despite the loss of about a third of the Jasper townsite, including homes and buildings, as well as the sorrow over the destruction of a beloved piece of Canadian landscape, experts say animals know how to protect themselves in a wildfire.
"Fire is a natural process and we expect animals to find new places to live," said James McCormick, Jasper's human-wildlife coexistence specialist.
Mark Boyce, a wildlife biologist at the University of Alberta, said Jasper's animals know what to do when their home is on fire.
