A white grizzly bear named Nakoda has become a trending topic on social media since she first appeared near Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies in 2020. She often makes roadside appearances and is a favorite among tourists, who are mesmerized by her rare golden fur and black stripes on her back.
But fame has its price, say members of Parks Canada’s regional wildlife management team, who saw a vehicle hit Nakoda on June 6 on the Trans-Canada Highway in Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Nakoda was confirmed dead Saturday, likely from her injuries.
Parks Canada said her two cubs, born last winter, were struck and killed on the same highway hours earlier.
Officials believe that since Nakoda became famous on social media, he has become accustomed to humans, which has caused him to become less wary of people and highways. Despite efforts by wildlife officials to stop him from approaching, he often ventures close to the road. Team members know Nakoda as Bear No. 178 and began tracking him in 2022 after he learned to climb a fence next to the highway.
Wildlife management teams have trapped Nakoda and removed her from the road three times since 2022. Also in 2022, Parks Canada established a no-stopping zone and lowered the speed limit on a section of the Trans-Canada Highway to discourage people from slowing down to photograph her and other wildlife.
Sander Stevens, wildlife management specialist with Parks Canada, said in a news release Monday that her team is deeply saddened by the grizzly bear’s death.
“Our wildlife management team at Parks Canada has actually spent a lot of time, and I mean hundreds of man-hours, managing Bear 178,” she said, adding that the job sometimes requires her to be with her from “dawn to dusk.”
“It’s very rare for habituated bears to survive,” Ms. Stevens said in an interview on Tuesday. “Unfortunately, this is all too common.” Ms. Stevens noted that the bear’s mother was also killed by a car in 2021.
Members of the wildlife management team were working nearby to build a fence designed to keep bears away from vehicles when the accident occurred on June 6. Team members saw her, startled by the scream of the train, run out of the ditch and onto the road in front of two vehicles. One of the vehicles dodged, but the second hit the bear.
Staff reported that they saw the grizzly bear crawl back into the enclosure after being hit and limp away, which gave them confidence that it would recover. They believe Nakoda died from internal injuries, but due to its remote location, an autopsy could not be performed.
According to Parks Canada, 23 bears have been killed on railways and roads in Yoho National Park since 2019, including seven grizzlies.
Ms. Stevens said bears often venture to the side of the road if their range is near a highway. She said it is also common for bears and other wildlife to become habituated to human contact in the area around Alberta’s Banff National Park, which receives about 4 million visitors a year. She encouraged visitors to view wildlife from a safe distance of 100 meters (about 328 feet).
“We know people come to watch wildlife,” she said, “but there are safe ways to watch wildlife that prevent this from happening.”
