Man wrestles bear to protect his dog in Jasper National Park attack

When a black bear lunged at hisdog in Jasper National Park last month, the owner jumped on the wild animal to protect hispet.

The dog, which had jumped out of anopen car window, was killed.

Steve Malcolm, a human-wildlife conflict specialist for the park, revealed the details of the attack in a Monday morning interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.

"He wasn't expecting the dog to jump out and he ended up just jumping on the bear, trying to wrestle that dog free," Malcolm said.

"It's an instinctive reaction and one that we don't condone."

• Dog killed in bear encounter at Jasper National Park

Malcolm said he has investigated twocases of people kicking atcougars to save their dogs, but this is the first time he's heard of anyone trying to wrestle a bear in the park.

"Really, the fellow is really lucky that he was able to pull that off, but it didn't change the outcome," he said.

"And certainly our message is:Absolutely never do that."

After jumping out of the car, the dog approached the bear whilebarking at it, Malcolm said. The bear respondedas it would to any other predator.

Animal instincts

The man likely escaped injury due to prey-fixation,Malcolm said. When a bear is attacking, itfocuses solelyon its potential meal.

"Their primary focus is to kill and disable that prey species and then they'll go into a bit of a defensive mode to protect themselves," Malcolm said.

"I think the fellow just caught him in that window where that black bear hadn't completely killed that dog yet and the bear was basically going to focus on the dog first and then go back to its own defence."

Malcolm said human-wildlife conflict specialists have been monitoring the bear since the attack but it has not acted aggressively towardhumans.

The case is a reminder to keep pets leashed and to never attempt to rescue a pet under attack, Malcolm said.

Having an off-leash dog is not only illegal in the mountain national parks, but can increase the chances of an aggressive encounter with a bear, elk and other wildlife.

• Red Deer man punches cougar at Tim Hortons to save dog

Some pet ownersinAlbertahave gone to great lengths to save their animalsfrom wildlife attacks.

In April 2015,a man escaped withonlya few bumps and bruises afterfighting off a cougar that attacked his girlfriend's dog on his acreage southwest of Calgary.

In the December2016, a Red Deer man made international headlines forpunching a cougar at a Tim Hortons parking lot after the wild cat grabbed his pet husky by the neck.

When bears attack, people's own animal instincts take over, Malcolm said.

If a park visitor's pet is attacked by a wild animal, they should not put themselves at risk by attempting to intervene.

"They don't think," he said. "They'll go into a defensive action without thinking, because everyone of them that has done it thinks, after the fact, 'I can't believe I just did that.' "

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