Grizzly bears in Banff National Park are being killed off or removed because of exploding rates of construction in the area, especially large hotels, an environmental group says.

The Environmental Investigation Agency issued a report Thursday blaming Toronto-based Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. as one of the chief culprits.

"Grizzly bears are under threat as never before in Canada's commercial development, led by Fairmont Hotels," said Allan Thornton, EIA's Canadian-born president.

A Fairmont Hotels spokeswoman was not immediately available for comment.

The EIA is an international group based in London that investigates cases of "environmental crime."

Thursday's report said that 10 per cent of the park's grizzly bears (six of 60 of the animals) have been killed or removed in the past 11 months.

It charges that Fairmont is putting its interests ahead of those of the environment during its construction of a brand new business conference centre in Lake Louise, located within Banff National Park.

Lake Louise has almost one-third of the national park's grizzly population of breeding females, the EIA says.

The national park was designated as a United Nations World Heritage Site. But development there is booming. Along with numerous motels, Banff and Lake Louise boast eleven hotels and conference centres.

It has more devlopment than Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Yellowstone parks combined, the EIA says.

It says more than 2,000 large mammals have been killed on the highway and train tracks in Banff Park in the past 20 years.