Rare white grizzly bear Nakoda and her cubs die in separate crashes in B.C. park

Parks Canada says a rare white grizzly bear has died of injuries that happened when she was struck by a car on the Trans-Canada Highway in British Columbia’s Yoho National Park, on the same day her cubs were killed in an earlier crash.

It says the crash that killed the adult bear, nicknamed Nakoda, happened on Thursday about 12 hours after the two cubs were struck and killed on the highway in southeast B.C. that morning.

The agency says wildlife management staff had been repairing fencing along the road when the adult bear was startled by a train and ran in front of two vehicles. 

It says 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. 

Parks Canada says staff watched her climb over the fence and limp toward the forest. 

It says wildlife specialists were “optimistic” the bear would survive the crash, but the animal was confirmed dead on Saturday when a “mortality signal” was sent from the bear’s GPS tracking collar.

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