Beloved Grizzly Bear Family Safe Amid Devastating Jasper Wildfire

By Bethanie Hestermann

Published

07/30/2024

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“Amidst the ashes, life finds a way,” wrote Jasper National Park in a Facebook post on Sunday. The post shares photos of a family of beloved grizzly bears that is safe from the massive Jasper wildfire. “Just like the community of Jasper, Jasper National Park’s wildlife will rebound from this crisis.”

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These are encouraging words from officials to a devastated community and everyone else around the world who has watched in horror as fire has destroyed tens of thousands of acres in the Alberta national park and then spread into its gateway community, Jasper. The town says this is largest wildfire in Jasper National Park in a century.

And yet, amid the devastation, there is hope in the form of grizzly bear 222 and her two cubs, who have so far survived the flames.

“The extraordinary instincts of wildlife, like bears and elk, guide them to safety,” the post says. “Grizzly bear 222, a frequent visitor in the area around Jasper Park Lodge, has a GPS collar tracking her movement. In the moments leading up to the most extreme wildfire activity on Wednesday July 24, 2024, Grizzly bear 222 and her two cubs tucked themselves into a wet spot by the Athabasca River.”

Though wildlife specialists say they have seen the remains of wildlife lost to the fire, James McCormick, human-wildlife coexistence specialist for Parks Canada, said: “Fire is a natural process and we expect animals to find new places to live.”

Officials say judging by the photos, grizzly bear 222 looks healthy. The photo of the bear surrounded by a stark, burnt landscape, though, is bittersweet. It’s great news that she’s alive and well, but the landscape is so changed, it leaves those who view it with a sense of how fragile—yet how resilient—nature is.