Parks Canada officials are begging the public to slow down as the number of bear deaths on mountain highways hits a 10-year high.

At this point, 14 bruins have been killed in crashes near Banff and officials are currently looking for a 15th; a bear was badly injured when it was hit by a car Sunday and fled into the woods at Lake Minnewanka.

Parks Canada spokesman Omar McDadi tells 660News officials are worried about the spike in numbers.

On average he says there are only 7.8 black bear deaths a year.

McDadi says there are more animals in the valley because of a record snow pack and increased reports of people feeding wildlife to get better pictures.

In response to the carnage on area highways, workers are trying to educate the public in hopes of getting them to slow down and keep their eyes on the road.

There are now low voltage mats along the side of the highways along with the wildlife overpasses and fences.

The new mats being tested are designed to fit in-between the fences and interchanges.

They deliver a mild shock to the animal to warn it from wandering out into traffic.

But McDadi adds visitors have a role to play and if they can slow down and keep their eyes on the road, hopefully the numbers will start to fall.