Conservation officers no longer ‘actively’ looking for grizzly bears in Bella Coola attack

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service announced on Friday that it is no longer actively looking for the grizzly bears involved in an attack on schoolchildren and teachers in Bella Coola in November.

Officers had recently captured four grizzly bears, but forensic results came back to confirm that none of the bears, an adult female and three young, were linked to the attack.

Officers said that the captured bears will be relocated within their home range, far from the community.

There have also been no bear sightings in the area of the attack for the past five days, aside from the four bears that were captured on Dec. 3.

“Based on this factor and due to the time of year, when bears begin denning, officers are no longer actively trying to capture bears, and equipment has been removed,” the Conservation Officer Service said in a statement.

In total, 24 conservation officers worked over two weeks to attempt to capture the bears, which included driving overnight to hand-deliver animal samples for testing at a forensic lab at the University of Alberta.

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“This was an extraordinary response to an extraordinary attack — our investigation determined the behaviour and actions of this bear were aggressive and unlike any other documented grizzly bear attack we have seen in B.C., or Canada,” said Insp. Kevin Van Damme.

“We truly appreciate and value the support we received from our partners, including the Nuxalk Nation and their Guardians, RCMP, forensics lab staff and ministry partners, who worked alongside us throughout this incident.”

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An information session was held on Thursday night in Bella Coola, which was attended by more than 100 people, according to the Conservation Officer Service.

Van Damme said they will closely monitor ongoing bear activity and there is a full-time conservation officer posted in Bella Coola, with more available to assist if needed.

Three children and a teacher were badly injured in the attack that came as their group of 20 ate lunch during a field trip.

They were from Acwsalcta School in Bella Coola.