Famous Grizzly Bear ‘Boss’ Has Locals Calling on Town to Remove Tasty Fruit Trees

Homeowners in the Canadian town of Banff may soon have to replace their fruit trees with something less appetizing to grizzly bears after one of the animals charged at residents in their backyard and a hiking couple were both killed in a bear attack.

Nicknamed “The Boss” by locals, a grizzly officially known as Bear 122 has to be chased away from homes in the area where he found feasts of crab apples, CBC News reports. The big bear reportedly acted aggressively when confronted and charged at residents.

The Boss is said to weigh upwards of 650 pounds and is considered to be the dominant grizzly in and around Banff National Park. CBC News says that he has been known to eat black bears and at one time he even shrugged off being struck by a train. 

Experts say The Boss, being a grizzly, is a big fan of fruit trees. That’s led to some calling for the removal of such fruit-bearing trees like crab apple and mountain ash.

"You can imagine the smell of an apple pie sitting on someone's windowsill,” Michael Hay, manager of environment with the Town of Banff, told CBC News. “These trees are like that for a grizzly bear.”

"Fruit trees are a major, major attractant. Our role is to work with residents to persuade them to do the right thing in terms of managing fruit trees to try and prevent bears from coming into town," Hay added.

According to CBC News, it’s currently legal to plant fruit trees on private property in the town, but a recent bylaw now allows the town to remove a fruit tree without the homeowner’s permission if that tree is attracting bears and putting the public at risk. 

The town also reportedly runs a program that will remove and replace fruit trees at no cost and is encouraging residents to take advantage of it. The bylaw was put in place in August and The Boss was first spotted getting his fill of crab apples in a resident’s backyard on September 23.

The Boss was chased away and was “hazed” away from the home’s backyard, but returned over the following two days. The fruit tree he was feating on was removed after The Boss’s first appearance, but he still returned anyway, looking for food.

“Hazing” a bear is the act of discouraging it from an area in a non-lethal way, and sometimes the animal is shot with non-lethal rounds. If left alone, bears can return to food-rich residential areas and become increasingly aggressive. This can end with the bear needing to be eradicated, which fans of The Boss are hoping to avoid.

In a statement, Parks Canada told CBC News that if The Boss continues to return to the town, it may begin an “adverse conditioning program” in an effort to re-instill fear into the grizzly.

"Aversive conditioning involves collaring and tracking the bear 24/7, and using hazing techniques including loud noises and projectiles such as chalk balls and rubber bullets to scare it away from problematic areas," the statement from Parks Canada reportedly read. 

"Residents are strongly encouraged to participate in the Town of Banff's Fruit Tree replacement program, which offers an incentive program to remove fruit trees in Banff and replace them with native, non-fruit bearing trees at no cost to homeowners or businesses,” Parks Canada added.

And residents have reason to be wary of the large beasts roaming their backyards, as evidenced by the recent killing of two people and their dog by a grizzly in Banff National Park.

The couple were the “most cautious people” who “knew bear protocol” according to their family. Rangers found the bodies of the couple on Saturday and then found a grizzly bear that was displaying “aggressive behavior” and euthanized it. The identities of the couple and the bear have not been released.

Parks Canada says there are around 65 grizzlies in Banff National Park, but many do not spend their entire lives within the parks.

Americans should also be aware of the threat of grizzly bears if they live in areas where the beasts roam. Earlier this year, a man was mauled to death in Arizona by a bear, and a woman was killed by a grizzly in Yellowstone National Park in July.