Four grizzly bears have been killed by authorized hunters since the Alberta government introduced the Wildlife Management Responder Network in June 2024.
The four grizzlies — one last year and three so far in 2026 — had all either killed or been “involved in conflict with” livestock, according to a statement sent to CBC News by the Department of Forestry and Parks.
The most recent lethal grizzly removal happened on June 8, south of Pincher Creek, “where a grizzly bear was confirmed to have killed several cattle.”
The province’s pool of “problem wildlife” responders consists of qualified Albertan hunters who applied and were selected for the program. When a situation arises where the province deems it appropriate for a grizzly bear to be killed, those hunters may be called upon.
“A responder will only be sent out as a last resort, and Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services will not allow the responders to remove aggressive or dangerous bears who have attacked a human or who have demonstrated predatory behaviour towards people,” the province said.
The three most recent incidents happened in the Pincher Creek area, in southwestern Alberta — an area that research suggests has the highest grizzly bear population density in the province.
While there hasn’t been a provincial study on Alberta’s grizzly bear population since 2018, Jeff Bectell with the Waterton Biosphere Reserve says it’s safe to say sightings are on the rise.
“The farmers and ranchers are seeing more bears and they’re seeing them in more areas,” Bectell said. “The population appears to be expanding eastward, and so you’ve got people [who] have concerns with that, right, as they see more bears,” said Bectell, co-ordinator of the organization’s Carnivores and Communities Program.
“It’s a fairly significant concern for many of those producers,” Bectell said.
“Sometimes we have somebody that has 15 sheep, and a grizzly kills five or 10 of them,” he said. “So for small producers, it can be a big deal, and for big producers, it can be a big deal.”
Alberta Fish and Wildlife responded to over 60 “complaints involving confirmed cases of grizzly bears killing livestock” in 2025, according to the province.
“There is absolutely a place for lethal control in wildlife management in general, and in grizzly bear management specifically,” he said. “But our stance has never been that that should be the only tool being used.”
The provincial government announced in 2024 it would invest $700,000 over five years to help keep large carnivores away from rural properties in southwestern Alberta, including setting up electric fencing, upgrading grain bins and removing dead stock.
But Bectell said because of the massive amount of livestock and the vast landscape in southwest Alberta, it is neither feasible nor desirable to put electric fences everywhere, as they restrict wildlife movement.
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Bectell said in areas with multiple bears where only a small percentage are preying on livestock, lethal removal of the specific offending animal may be the best solution, especially when used in conjunction with other management tools.
However, it can be difficult to determine exactly which bear is the culprit.
“You’ve got wildlife on some pretty wild landscapes, and you’ve got livestock,” he said. “It can be tough to say which bear killed this livestock, and so I think hopefully people recognize that there’s probably going to be errors made sometimes.”
The province says hunters authorized to kill a “problem” grizzly are provided with information like photographs and precise locations, and are required to submit the dead bear to the provincial government to ensure they killed the correct animal.
Hunting grizzlies has been banned in Alberta since 2006, with the exception of harvesting by Indigenous hunters for subsistence or cultural purposes. Grizzly bears have been a threatened species in Alberta since 2010.
The province has said grizzly removal through the Wildlife Management Responder Network is not considered a grizzly hunt, as authorizations are granted on a case-by-case basis rather than through tags.
But much like sport hunting, the responder can keep the bear’s meat, hide and all other parts of the animal, except for its gallbladder.
Maggie Spizzirri, executive director of Exposed Wildlife Conservancy, says while there are situations where killing a grizzly bear is necessary, there are also times where “it’s not required” and done simply because “it’s easy and it’s cost effective.”
But even in situations where killing a grizzly is determined to be the best course of action, Spizzirri says bringing in a hunter to shoot the bear is unnecessary when Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers on-scene are capable of doing it themselves.
“Why are we doing the extra step and spending the extra money to arrange to have somebody separate come and kill a bear when the province is already there setting up the trap and handling everything already,” Spizzirri said.
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“Why are we putting extra funding towards something for somebody to come and kill a bear? Just to say that they had the option to kill a grizzly bear,” Spizzirri said.
“For me and for our organization, that doesn’t seem enough to warrant the additional funds and processes for that.”
According to the province’s data, 18 grizzly bears were killed by people last year: seven as “problem wildlife,” seven harvested under treaty rights, three hit by vehicles, and one killed in self-defence.
The province says an average of 10 grizzly bears were “lethally removed” every year from 2020 to 2024.
