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Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services are currently investigating the killing of multiple grizzly bears across the province, with four bears poached at three different locations, over the last few months. One grizzly was found shot on September 30th, along a road 20km northwest of Edmonton. The very next day, on October 1st, another bear was found dead with all four of it’s paws removed. It was found in a remote area between Little Smoky and Fox Creek.
This comes months after two grizzlies were found shot in June on a road near Sundre, around 95 km northwest of Calgary. March of this year also had a call for public assistance, as officials investigate a grizzly poaching discovered in November of 2025. Hunting grizzlies has been illegal since 2006, with the exception of harvesting by Indigenous hunters, either for cultural and ceremonial purposes, or for subsistence.
The province is asking anyone with information on any of these poaching’s to contact the Report-A-Poacher line, or submit a report online at alberta.ca/report-poacher. Tipsters could be eligible for a reward, should their information lead to charges laid. From 2020 to 2025, there have been 28 documented cases of human-caused grizzly mortality, which accounts for 17% of all grizzly bear deaths in that time. This includes those struck by vehicles.
Rural or bear-active communities are encouraged to prioritize things like electric fencing, guard dogs and bear-resistant containers to further decrease bear-human encounters.
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