One of Kootenay’s patrol horses left behind an interesting legacy. Named Star, the horse passed away from old age in 1976. Star gave many good years of service to the park! As was the practice at the time, Star’s remains were moved from the pasture to a site along the West Kootenay fire road. The horse’s scent was picked up by a grizzly bear. Hans Fuhrer, a park warden at the time, followed the bear up the fire road in his truck. He remembers that “when the bear found the horse it jumped up and down on it like a kid finding a bag of candy.” After several days, the grizzly gained a lot of weight and had to rest.

It is fitting that Star’s last contribution as a Parks Canada horse was to the ecosystem of Kootenay National Park.

Posted on January 1, 2024 04:41 AM by larryhalverson