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Scientists say conflict between grizzly bears and people in Southwestern Alberta is growing.

University of Alberta researchers combed through 15 years worth of data on contact between humans, black bears, grizzlies, wolves and cougars in the province's southern foothills, mountains and plains.

They found encounters have remained about the same for all of them except grizzlies — in that case contact increased fourfold between 1999 and 2014.

Lead researcher Andrea Morehouse says that's likely to be related to other recent findings that grizzly populations have been slowly growing and the bears are expanding their range.

Morehouse also found that a provincial program designed to reduce conflict by supplying bears with roadkill didn't work.

Morehouse says people want large carnivores to remain in the area and are coming up with innovative ways to live with them.