A Richmond-based tour company has been warned after reports of Chinese tourists feeding meat to a family of grizzly bears to get them closer to the bus.
Banff's most famous grizzly bear and her three yearling cubs were tossed meat by tourists from a commercial tour van rented by Bestcan Tours in a dangerous and misguided bid to lure the animals closer for a photo.
Parks Canada officials say they received a report of people in a van owned by Bestcan Tours throwing food to grizzly bear 64 and her cubs along Vermilion Lakes Drive on July 25.
Officials say it appears the bear family did not actually feast on the meat, and say they do not expect to lay charges at this point because the group of tourists has left the country.
"It's absolutely shocking to us that this could happen to her. This is completely inappropriate behaviour," said Steve Michel, human-wildlife conflict specialist for Banff National Park.
"This is the sort of behaviour we saw 30 or 40 years ago..."
Rose Huang, manager of Bestcan Tours, said the company rented out the bus, adding it was not being used as a company bus. "I spoke to the driver and we will make sure that will never happen in the future," she said.
- For the full story, go to www.richmond-news. com.
