Parks Canada To Track Grizzly Bears With GPS

If Yogi and BooBoo were to relocate from Jellystone to Banff or Yoho National Park in Canada, the ranger would be able to see exactly where ther picnic-pilfering adventures took them. In the real world, the parks department in Canada has announced it plans to tag grizzly bears with GPS collars. The organization has cited safety concerns.

Safety, that is, for the bears. There have been a number of cases where bears outside the two aforementioned parks were killed by trains on nearby tracks. By collaring the animals and monitoring their locations, they can help prevent them from wandering in that direction again. The plan calls for around a dozen bears to be collared, whose movements will be tracked for four years.

This comes as a direct response to a joint initiative between Parks Canada and the Canadian Pacific Railway. They've devoted $1 million to curb the unfortunate bear deaths. "Fine scale GPS data provides detailed patterns of use that can answer specific questions about how and why bears travel through certain habitats or routes, including the railway tracks," explained Parks Canada biologist Tom Hurd.

[via Edmonton Journal]