When Bear 148 walked across a parking lot — which she did, often — she could easily end up on the front page of a national newspaper.
That’s because she lived in Banff, Canada’s busiest national park. But when she crossed an invisible border and left the park, she set into motion a series of events that eventually led to her death nearly 500 km from her home.
Bear 148 tells the story of the life, and death, of one bear that captivated a community. A podcast by The Narwhal coming this June.
Episode Transcript
MOLLY: This the story of a bear.
JAY HONEYMAN: Certain areas, certain bears gain a greater profile. 148 has been in the news. You know she walks across a parking lot and she’s on the front page of a national newspaper.
MOLLY: Bear 148 was a female grizzly bear who lived most of her life in Banff – Canada’s busiest national park.
She wasn’t afraid of people. And she became a local celebrity who was seen, photographed and written up in the news – a lot.
JAY: So people came to know her and you know you come to know something and you feel attached to it and something bad happens and you feel bad.
MOLLY: When Bear 148 left the national park, she crossed an invisible border and walked into a new set of rules.
SARAH ELMELIGI: We’ve drawn all of these lines on a map and we’ve said okay over here do this and this will happen and do that and this will happen over there and it’s a very complex rulebook and bears can’t read.
MOLLY: Crossing that border would set into motion a series of events that would lead up to Bear 148’s death nearly 500 kilometres northwest of her home.
For The Narwhal, I’m Molly Segal and this is Bear 148, a podcast that tells the story of the life and death of a bear that captivated a community.
Subscribe now and find Bear 148 in your podcast feed in June 2019.
