It’s time to brush up on your “bear smarts.”

Parks Canada has spotted the first grizzly of the season.

A 500 pound male was spotted last Sunday on the CP Rail tracks in Banff National Park.

“It sounded like he was sleeping on the tracks, but we didn’t know,” says Resource Conservation Specialist Mike Grande. “We didn’t know what the state of the bear was, we didn’t know if he was sleeping or injured. I got out there around 8:30 in the evening and he started moving into thicker cover.”

Grande says it’s fairly typical for males to wake up in mid-March.

“It’s typical for an early emergence for the bear to come out of its den,” he says. “We kind of expect most large males to be out in early to mid April and then the females, especially those with cubs will be out later into May and possibly even June.”

He adds the size of the cubs is something that impacts when they decide to wake.

Bears usually come out of their denning period hungry as they’ve been living off their fat stores for 4 to 5 months.

At this time of year, there is usually a lot of snow up high, so the bears that are out concentrate in the valley bottoms looking for limited food.

Given that humans are usually in the same area, Grande says it’s a good idea to learn what you should do in the event you come across one.

“Travel in groups if possible, keep your dog on a leash, carry bear spray, and keep it close at hand,” he suggests. “And then making noise and being aware.”

Anyone who sees a bear is asked to report it to their dispatch. For info on how to do that or more tips click here.