Black bear hunter kills attacking grizzly in B.C

A black bear hunter remains in hospital after being attacked by a grizzly bear in the mountains of British Columbia on Thursday. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the 36-year-old hunter shot the bear, but it suffered multiple serious injuries. He was flown from the area after his father, who was hunting with him at the time of the attack, called for help. The attack remains under investigation by the British Columbia Conservation Office and the agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a news release, the RCMP said the father and son were “pursuing a bear with dogs” when the adult grizzly suddenly attacked the son. The two men were hunting on a steep mountainside south of Elkford, which is in the Canadian Rockies west of the Alberta border. RCMP say both men were locals and the son lives in nearby Sparwood. “The man suffered serious injuries during the attack,” the RCMP said, “including broken bones and lacerations to his body.”

At some point during the attack, the son managed to shoot the bear with the gun he was carrying. Neither the RCMP nor the BCCOS have provided details about the firearm used, but it was likely the same rifle or shotgun he would have used to hunt black bears; Canada has strict laws prohibiting hunters from carrying handguns unless they have a special license or express permission from the government.

The BCCOS said in a Facebook post that after an extensive search, conservation officers finally found a dead grizzly bear in the area. They are convinced it was the same bear involved in the attack, saying: “The bear succumbed to its wounds.”

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Although grizzly bear hunting has been banned in the province since 2017, black bear season is currently open in British Columbia and regulations allow the use of released dogs to hunt black bears. It is unclear whether the dogs were unknowingly pursuing a bear that turned out to be a grizzly bear and not a black bear, or whether they were pursuing a black bear when the grizzly bear attacked.

The RCMP coordinated with BCCOS and other agencies to rescue the hunter around 3 p.m. Thursday. Search and rescue workers transported the victim more than 200 meters down the mountainside, where he was lifted into a helicopter using a long line and then taken to Calgary Foothills Hospital for treatment.

According to authorities, the hunter was in stable condition when he was flown out on Thursday. A spokesman for the British Columbia government told reporters Sunday that the man had been transported to another hospital but did not provide any information about his condition.

The May 16 grizzly attack occurred just six days after another grizzly attack in Squamish, B.C. Officials concluded the non-fatal attack was “defensive in nature” because the grizzly had cubs nearby, and they decided not to capture or kill the bear.

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Another serious bear attack was reported Sunday in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, more than 600 miles south of Elkford. Details are slim, however Jackson Hole News and Guide reports the victim received medical attention around 6:30 p.m. The park’s chief of staff, Jeremy Barnum, told the local news outlet that the attack was still under investigation and that officials did not yet know whether it was a grizzly bear or a black bear.