Canada: four bears linked to fatal attack on mother and daughter

Four bears, apparently displaying "rare predatory behavior", were involved in the fatal attack in early November on a mother and her daughter in western Canada, authorities said Tuesday.

“Forensic analyzes have confirmed that four grizzly bears, captured by agents, were involved in the attack which killed two people near Bella Coola”, in the province of British Columbia, the provincial services in charge of nature protection announced in a press release. These four bears, a mother and her three cubs, were “shot dead,” they added. The two victims, whose bodies were found at the beginning of last week, are a mother and her daughter who had gone walking on a hiking trail not far from their home.

Bears that exhibited “predatory behavior”

The investigation carried out by nature protection officers showed that these bears had “probably” demonstrated “predatory behavior” while “fatal grizzly bear attacks involving predatory behavior are rare”. However, provincial services do not explain the causes of this behavior.

A school group was attacked by a bear in the same area in November last year. Eleven people, including children, were injured, some seriously. DNA tests carried out on the four bears killed confirmed that they had not been involved in this attack. Grizzly bears can be very aggressive during this time of year, as they seek to increase their fat reserves before hibernation.