4 Grizzly Bears Killed After DNA Links Them to Fatal Attack in BC
Four grizzly bears were killed by wildlife authorities in British Columbia after DNA evidence linked the animals to the fatal mauling of a mother and daughter near Bella Coola, officials announced on Tuesday.
The adult female grizzly and her three offspring were captured over the weekend following a dayslong search along the Snooka West Trail, according to the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service. Forensic testing confirmed the bears were responsible for the deaths of 48-year-old Jennifer Balcarras and her 20-year-old daughter, Selah Reed, according to Fox News. Investigators determined that the encounter involved predatory behavior, prompting wildlife officers to put down all four animals under provincial human-wildlife conflict guidelines. More than a dozen officers worked through difficult terrain and weather to recover evidence and capture the bears, The New York Times reported. Balcarras and Reed went missing after setting out for a walk on Saturday, Oct. 31, according to The New York Times. Family members alerted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after Balcarras missed a scheduled online meet-up, CBS News reported. Searchers located Balcarras’s vehicle locked at the trailhead, leading to the recovery of Balcarras’s body on Nov. 2 and Reed’s body on Nov. 3, according to Fox News and CBS News.
“This was a heartbreaking event for the families, the Nuxalk Nation and the Bella Coola community,” Insp. Jeff Tyre said in a media briefing reported by Fox News. “We hope the efforts of everyone who responded, along with these findings, bring some measure of closure.” The Nuxalk Nation, the Indigenous governing body in the region, recommended an 8 p.m. curfew following the attack, according to The New York Times. Elected Chief Councilor Samuel Schooner announced that the curfew has been lifted following the capture of the bears, though night patrols will continue as the community works to recover.
Conservation officials confirmed that DNA testing also established that the four euthanized bears were not involved in a separate attack last November, when a grizzly mauled three children and an adult during a school trip approximately two miles from the site of the recent killings, according to The New York Times.
Fatal grizzly attacks involving predatory behavior remain rare in the province, where an estimated 10,000 to 13,000 grizzly bears live, according to CBS News.