Alberta is home to all sorts of iconic wildlife but bear No. 122, better known as The Boss, is arguably the most popular, but not for being cute.
If this is your first time hearing about The Boss, here’s what you need to know. In 2024, the towering Bruin was thought to be between 25 and 27 years old.
He weighs anywhere from 500 to 650 pounds depending on the time of year.
To put things into perspective, a baby grand piano weighs about 600 pounds. Now imagine that piano barreling at you at 35 kilometres per hour, because that’s how fast a grizzly can run at top speeds.
The Boss’ territory is a massive 2,500 square kilometres, but he spends most of his time in Banff National Park or patrolling railways for spilled grain.
But don’t be fooled, The Boss doesn’t make headlines because of his size and appearance. He has earned himself a reputation as a fearsome legend.
Back in 2013, The Boss was seen eating a black bear. That might sound surprising, but cannibalism in bears is quite common.
“Grizzly bears are opportunistic hunters. They will take advantage of any food source that presents itself,” Steve Michel, a human-wildlife conflict specialist with Banff National Park, told CBC News.
Even more stunning is that The Boss is believed to have survived being struck by a train…twice! But with age comes wisdom and the old grizzly now clears the tracks when he hears a train coming.
Last year, The Boss went toe-to-toe with some of his biggest (literally) competitors, which likely included Split Lip, another infamous grizzly bear in the Bow Valley.
So, where is The Boss today? The iconic grizzly was spotted emerging from hibernation on April 7, the latest the patriarch has ever been out of his den in more than a decade.
He’s been in bed for the last six months. Can you blame him? The Boss might be a legend, but he isn’t immortal.
Keeping the Legend Alive
The Boss has very few natural threats, but the same can’t be said for human-caused threats. Two of the main threats to grizzly bears in Alberta are habitat loss and mortality caused by humans.
Mortality caused by humans refers to things like vehicle collisions, poaching, and habituation, which refers to when an animal loses its natural fear of humans.
Habituation occurs when an animal is exposed to the same stimuli repeatedly, and eventually stops responding to that stimulus.
For example, a black bear was killed by provincial wildlife officers in Kananaskis Country last year after eating campers’ food at the Spray Lakes West Campground.
The bear approached people, grabbed food from picnic tables, stomped on a car, and ripped open a tent looking for a snack.
The black bear had become used to human food sources and being around humans, which led to a potentially dangerous human-wildlife conflict, in this case, approaching campers.
According to CPAWS, habituated bears die from habituation more than any other cause in Banff National Park. The Boss is tough as nails, but he isn’t immune to habituation.
Last November, The Boss tried to get into the Banff townsite, likely to find the crabapple tree he fed on the year before.
The Bruin also has a history of visiting Harvie Heights and residential neighbourhoods in Canmore. To discourage bears from frequenting places with people, a tactic called hazing is used.
Hazing often involves making loud noises and shooting paintball guns loaded with compressed chalk. But when bears stop responding to hazing, they are often killed by wildlife officers to protect the public.
The Boss already has a track record of visiting towns and hamlets. If he stops responding to hazing, it could spell the end for one of our remaining wildlife icons.
You can do your part to protect The Boss and other wildlife from habituation by not feeding animals and making sure you don’t leave food out that might attract wildlife.
