grizzly bear attacks woman, 72, hiking in british columbia
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a grizzly bear seen along the alaska highway in yukon, canada.
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a 72-year-old woman is recovering after being attacked by a grizzly bear while hiking in british columbia’s south chilcotin region.
on sunday at around 3:45 p.m., the royal canadian mounted police notified pemberton search and rescue that a grizzly bear had attacked a hiker.
the woman was trekking in an area east of tyaughton lake near gold bridge, about 70 kilometres north of pemberton, when the encounter occurred.
david mckenzie, president of pemberton search and rescue, told cbc news that the bear “was batting them around in the altercation.”
with the help of b.c. conservation officer service, crews responded to the area for a search.
“they didn’t want us to enter into the scene until they had cleared it just because of safety,” said mckenzie.
the woman was hiking in pearson ridge, a remote area that’s accessible through forest service roads.
‘defensive attack’
the b.c. wildfire service found the hiker and aided in rescuing her, mckenzie said.
b.c’s ministry of environment and parks said the senior suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to vancouver general hospital for treatment, ctv news reported.
the ministry told ctv news that conservation officers met the injured hiker in hospital, collecting some of her clothing for “potential linkage evidence” before returning to the attack scene to investigate.
“the onsite investigation and victim statement have led the team to believe this was a defensive attack by a female grizzly with at least one cub,” the ministry added.
the bear hasn’t been killed nor removed, and no capture devices were set up. the ministry said signs were put up in the area as a precaution.
encounters happen where there’s overlap
bear biologist wayne mccrory told cbc news many people enjoy b.c’s backcountry, which is occupied by grizzly habitat. he noted the south chilcotin region is a large protected area for grizzly bears, with lots of streams containing salmon for them to feed on.
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mccrory said most serious grizzly bear encounters tend to happen where there’s an overlap of trail and campsites in bear movement corridors.
“grizzly bears like to use park trails if their terrain is rough,” mccrory told cbc news.
“we have these happen every year in british columbia because we live in prime grizzly habitat,” he said. “we just have to do our best to avoid encounters.”
mccrory suggests that people not hike during early mornings or late evenings, carry bear spray and know how to use it, and make sure trails and campsites aren’t situated in prime feeding areas.
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