Trail where grizzly bear eats black bear reopens

CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A Canadian national park in Alberta said is has reopened a hunting trail closed temporary when a grizzly bear was found eating a black bear carcass.

Steve Michel, a human-wildlife conflict specialist with Banff National Park, said the Sundance Canyon trail was closed immediately when hikers discovered the "bear-eat-bear" scene Aug. 10 and officials investigated the incident, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported Friday.

"Grizzly bears are opportunistic hunters," he said. "They will take advantage of any food source that presents itself."

Michel said he was aware of at least four prior incidents involving grizzly bears hunting, killing and eating the smaller black bears.

"It may not be as rare as we think it is," he said. "But it is rare that we actually are able to document it. We tend not to know about it all."

"We know it's a dog-eat-dog world out there, but we're finding out it's a bear-eat-bear world as well," Michel quipped.

Michel said bears are coming closer to areas where humans commonly visit because of the presence of buffalo berry patches, which the bears use to put on weight for the coming fall.