A grizzly encounter, recorded in its entirety, shows a close call

EDMONTON, Canada – A woman’s morning walk with her dog in the scenic Canadian Rockies this week took an unexpected turn after a grizzly bear galloped toward her, stood on its hind legs and continued to move within several metres as the woman shouted, grunted and slowly retreated.

Incredibly, she captured the entire encounter on video.

The unidentified woman, who could not be reached for comment, left her lodge to walk her dog, in Kananaskis, a community more than three hours south of Edmonton, Alberta, on June 24.

On a gravel driveway about 90m from camp, she picked up her dog’s leash, coffee mug in the other hand, to turn back when she spotted a grizzly and pressed record on her phone.

“This was probably a younger grizzly bear that was very curious about the dog,” said Jelmer de Blois, a hiking guide who operates Wilderness Escape Adventures in the area.

The woman shouted or made noises at least 40 times to keep the bear at bay, and the grizzly started toward her almost as many times.

When the woman escaped, she ran to a tent where previous clients of de Blois’ were staying. She remained there for 15 minutes until the bear began to chase a moose, de Blois said.

He eventually connected with the woman and posted her video online. By June 27, the post on the Wilderness Escape TikTok account had nearly 30 million views.

“It’s pretty common that somebody sees a bear and it’s just a little further away – I’ll take a picture or a video,” de Blois said. “She just kept it running.”

What followed was a terrifying, although rare, occurrence.

“Stop!” the woman shouts, her voice pitched low. “Enough!”

The bear pauses at times but then continues to draw nearer. It appears to focus on getting closer to the dog, dashing toward the animal as the owner slowly walks away.

The encounter lasts about one minute before the bear ducks behind a gate and the woman reaches parked cars and runs away. The grizzly appears to give chase as the video cuts off.

“We are in bear country, and I always warn my clients that there are a lot of bears in the area,” de Blois said. “You have to know what you’re doing, and you always have to carry bear spray.”

The day of the encounter, Alberta Forestry and Parks, which oversees the area, issued a warning describing the encounter, and said on June 25 that the nearby Tryst Lake parking area was closed until further notice because of bear activity.

“A Grizzly bear exhibited persistent, dog-focused behaviour during an encounter with a hiker and their leashed dog,” the advisory said. “The bear made repeated approaches, closing to within approximately one metre.”

The advisory offered advice for how to avoid surprise run-ins with bears, including travelling in groups while making noise, keeping pets leashed and carrying bear spray.

A rule of thumb when approached by a grizzly bear is to play dead, said Spencer Peter, the assistant director of the North American Bear Center in Minnesota.

Brown bears usually attack because they are defending against a threat, and if you lie down they are less likely to feel antagonised.

But he added that, with a dog present, the woman in the video acted appropriately.

“Unless you have the best-trained dog, you and your dog can’t play dead together perfectly,” Peter said. “I don’t think that would have stopped this situation. In fact, it might have made it worse if you just laid down.”

The bear could have potentially had offspring nearby, making it more aggressive.

Peter said the movements and circling called to mind fighters jockeying for position in a ring.

“Lots of bear attacks are precipitated by interest with a dog,” Peter said. Dogs and bears, he added, “naturally don’t get along”.

In the video, he added, “the bear is more focused on the dog than the person as it continues to run circles around the person”.

Although bear attacks tend to draw intense interest when they occur, a fatal encounter is rare.

A review conducted by researchers at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, found that between 1990 and 2023, there were only eight grizzly attacks in Alberta.

But those attacks resulted in nine fatalities and one reported injury. The review relied on news reports of bear attacks in that period.

The US National Park Service advises on its website that, if a grizzly attacks and persists, to fight back aggressively. Grizzly bears can weigh more than 300kg, according to the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance.

In the video shot in Alberta, the bear came within feet and exhibited some aggressive behaviour, Peter said.

“I’m kind of shocked that it didn’t actually do anything to her,” Peter said. NYTIMES

• This article originally appeared in The New York Times.