A man is recovering after being attacked by a grizzly bear in a remote area of B.C. Sunday afternoon.
The man and his wife were out mountain biking near Spruce Lake north of the small community of Gold Bridge, about two hours northwest of Lillooet.
BC Emergency Health Services told Global News that they received a call at 4:10 p.m. for a grizzly bear attack in that area.
The grizzly was with her cubs, and it’s believed she acted defensively when she attacked the man and bit his groin, police said.
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His wife sprayed the sow with bear spray, and the animal let go.
The couple was found by search and rescue teams, and the man was taken to hospital by air ambulance in serious condition.
His wife was not injured.
The Conservation Officer Service (COS) says its predator attack team flew in on Monday morning to the location of the attack.
The trail will be shut down and signs will be posted.
The COS says this is the second bear attack in a week in this area but they do not believe it is the same bear on both occasions. In the previous incident, a black bear with a cub attacked a man in his tent on Aug. 9. The man suffered injuries to his arm.
No attempts to capture the bears were made because the COS says it determined it was a surprise defensive attack.