Provincial authorities are currently investigating a series of incidents where poachers have unlawfully killed grizzly bears in Alberta. The Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services are looking into the illegal shootings of four grizzly bears at three different locations, as reported by CBC News.
On September 30, one grizzly bear was discovered shot dead along a road approximately 20 kilometers north of Swan Hills, situated northwest of Edmonton. The following day, on October 1, another grizzly was found deceased in a remote area between Little Smoky and Fox Creek, with all four paws removed from the bear.
These incidents follow the discovery of two grizzly bears shot dead in June near Sundre, approximately 95 kilometers northwest of Calgary. In March of the same year, the province sought public assistance in a poaching investigation after a grizzly bear was found dead from a gunshot wound in November 2025.
Hunting grizzly bears in Alberta has been prohibited since 2006, except for harvesting by Indigenous hunters for subsistence or cultural reasons. The province urges anyone with information concerning these poaching cases or other suspected wildlife offenses to contact the Report-A-Poacher line or submit a report online at alberta.ca/report-poacher. Informants leading to charges being laid may be eligible for a cash reward through the Report-A-Poacher program.
Gordon Stenhouse, a biologist involved in Alberta’s grizzly bear population research, expressed disappointment at the shootings and abandonment of grizzly bear bodies, noting it reflects a disregard and disrespect for wildlife. Stenhouse highlighted that the actual number of poached bears found is likely only a fraction of the total incidents, with many cases going undetected.
The Alberta government records human-caused grizzly bear mortality, with 28 documented illegal killings from 2020 to 2025, constituting about 17% of grizzly bear deaths during that period. Other leading causes of grizzly bear mortality include incidents where the province is involved and bear-vehicle collisions. Grizzly bears have been classified as a threatened species in Alberta since 2010.
Mark Boyce, an ecology professor at the University of Alberta, emphasized the importance of addressing the root causes of poaching and promoting better co-existence between humans and bears. He highlighted the existence of a black market for grizzly bear paws and the need to focus on proactive measures such as electric fencing, guard dogs, and bear-resistant containers to mitigate conflicts rather than resorting to killing grizzly bears.
Kim Titchener, founder of Bear Safety and More, viewed poaching as a symptom of the larger conflict between humans and bears sharing the landscape. Titchener stressed the need for communities in bear country to prioritize resources like electric fencing and bear-resistant containers to prevent conflicts rather than resorting to lethal measures.
The Alberta government has announced investments to enhance measures to keep large carnivores away from rural properties and supports BearSmart programs statewide to minimize human-wildlife conflicts and reduce grizzly bear deaths. While the province estimates a current grizzly bear population of around 1,000 in Alberta, there has not been a provincial grizzly bear population study conducted since 2018.