‘The Boss’ still dominant

Banff National Park’s best-known grizzly, Bear 122 or “The Boss,” has emerged from hibernation and is still being described as the Bow Valley’s dominant male. (castanet.net) The Canadian Press profile published Sunday, April 12, says The Boss has roamed the park for more than a quarter-century and is estimated to be between 25 and 30 years old. Kendra Scurfield of Banff Sunshine Village said his latest appearance in late March drew heavy attention online. (castanet.net) The bear is identified by researchers as Bear 122 and is estimated at close to 700 pounds. Colleen St. Clair, a University of Alberta biologist, said DNA sampling during a train-bear research project found that 75 percent of sampled cubs at the time were his offspring. (castanet.net) That reputation rests on more than size. Reporting from Banff in November 2024 said The Boss ranged across roughly 2,500 square kilometres in Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks and controlled the richest food sources and mating access in the Bow Valley. (rmoutlook.com) Researchers have also used him to study how large carnivores live beside roads and rail lines. A 2025 account of that work said Parks Canada and Canadian Pacific Railway launched a five-year GPS collar study beginning with The Boss after his movements showed repeated use of tracks and highways as travel and feeding corridors. (forbes.com) He survived a train strike near Vermilion Lakes in 2010 and was later linked to a 2013 incident in which he killed and ate a black bear near Sundance Canyon trail. Those episodes helped turn him from a tagged research animal into a public figure with souvenir shirts, a restaurant reference and a children’s book. (rmoutlook.com) (castanet.net) His standing is no longer uncontested. Banff wildlife staff told Rocky Mountain Outlook in 2024 that younger males, including Bear 136 or “Split Lip,” had likely left The Boss with wounds to his hindquarters and face during challenges over territory and mating rights. (rmoutlook.com) This spring’s first reported sightings came on March 25 and March 26, according to local reports, a little earlier than his first confirmed 2025 appearance in early April. Parks Canada says hikers in the mountain parks should carry bear spray, travel in groups and watch for fresh signs of bears as spring activity resumes. (rmoutlook.com) (parks.canada.ca) For now, the old male is still on the landscape and still setting the terms for every other bear around him. The latest profile treats his 2026 return less as a comeback than as another season in a reign that has already outlasted most wild grizzlies. (castanet.net)