Officials confirmed Tuesday that four grizzly bears captured near Bella Coola, B.C., were “actively involved” in a fatal attack on a mother and daughter.
In an update Tuesday, Insp. Jeff Tyre with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said forensic testing confirmed the bears were responsible and that all four captured animals involved in the “heartbreaking event” have been put down.
“We hope the efforts of everyone who responded, along with these findings, bring some measure of closure,” Tyre said.
The victims, Jenny Balcarras and her adult daughter Selah Reed, were reported missing when they did not return from a hike. Their remains were found earlier this month.
The attack was “predatory” in nature Tyre said, which is” very rare.”
The bears involved were a sow and her offspring—three cubs that Tyre said were less than a year old.
“They all had to be destroyed because bears that are involved in fatal attacks on people cannot be rehabilitated or relocated,” he explained.
“This type of behavior presents an extreme risk to the public, and such bears are dispatched to protect the public and prevent similar attacks in the future.”
Bella Coola, about 1,000 kilometres north of Vancouver, was also the site of a grizzly attack on a group of elementary school students and teachers last November, leaving one adult and three children badly injured. The animal responsible was never located.
The four bears captured and dispatched over the past week were not involved in that attack, Tyre said.
Samuel Schooner, elected Chief of the Nuxalk Nation, asked for the privacy of the family and the community to be respected—and stressed that supports will be in place for as long as they are needed.
“This attack has been deeply retriggering for our community members as we continue to recover from last year’s attack,” he said.
“Our community is rightfully still deeply affected and will be for generations.”
