Parks Canada staff who spent hundreds of hours tracking a rare white grizzly bear known as Nakoda had recently celebrated her emergence from hibernation with two new cubs in British Columbiasa国际传媒檚 Yoho National Park, said parks wildlife management specialist Saudi Stevens.

Now all three animals are dead, after two separate crashes on the same day on the Trans-Canada Highway in southeast British Columbia.

Parks Canada announced Nakodasa国际传媒檚 death on Monday, four days after the crashes that ultimately claimed her life and those of her cubs.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 actually devastated the team that was so deeply invested in really trying to prevent this outcome,sa国际传媒� Stevens told a news briefing.

She called for better highway awareness in parks.

sa国际传媒淪o many staff are actually working hard to make roads safer for wildlife (and) we really want to emphasize to visitors the importance of not stopping and lingering to view wildlife, to drive cautiously and to obey the speed limits.sa国际传媒�

Stevens said that on Thursday morning, Nakodasa国际传媒檚 two cubs were struck by a vehicle and killed on the highway.

About 12 hours later, Nakoda was struck, too, between the Lake Osa国际传媒橦ara access road and Wapta Lake.

Parks Canada said in a statement that wildlife management staff had been repairing fencing along the road when the adult bear, designated GB178, was startled by a train and ran in front of two vehicles.

One vehicle was able to swerve and avoid the bear, but the driver of the second vehicle was unable to react in time and struck her, the statement said.

Stevens said staff were sa国际传媒渙ptimisticsa国际传媒� the bear would survive as they watched her climb over the fence and head toward the forest with sa国际传媒渘o apparent injuries other than a limp.sa国际传媒�

But she said the animal was confirmed dead on Saturday when a sa国际传媒渕ortality signalsa国际传媒� was sent from the bearsa国际传媒檚 GPS tracking collar.

Stevens said the deaths were sa国际传媒渄evastatingsa国际传媒� for the team, who had been tracki ng Nakoda for about two years.

sa国际传媒淪ince 2022, our Parks Canada wildlife management team has actually spent a significant amount of time, and I mean hundreds upon hundreds of hours, managing Bear 178,sa国际传媒� she said.

sa国际传媒淛ust weeks ago, everyone in our office were actually celebrating her emergence from the den with two new cubs.sa国际传媒�

She said such incidents can be an sa国际传媒渦nfortunate realitysa国际传媒� when bears become habituated to people.

sa国际传媒淚f it was internal injuries (that killed the bear) our vet said there really is no veterinary care that would have been able to prevent her death,sa国际传媒� Stevens said.

sa国际传媒淕rizzly bears are considered a species of special concern. Theysa国际传媒檙e a very slow-reproducing animal, so every female grizzly bear thatsa国际传媒檚 killed in the park is a significant loss.sa国际传媒�

Yoho National Park is about 60 kilometres northwest of Banff, Alta.

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