B.C. Conservation teams track where bears are moving, set bait in locations they expect they’ll be, and set up traps. <\/p>\n
Once a bear has been captured and immobilized, officers work to match the animal to witness accounts and evidence collected at the scene of an attack \u2014 including tracks, hair, or anything the bear might have bitten down on during the incident.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven further, the bears left some forensic evidence on the clothing of the victims,\u201d said Kevin Van Damme, inspector with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS).\u00a0\u201cFrom there \u2026 we’ll do lab work to make sure that we have the right bear.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764252308_180_default.jpg\")
A B.C. conservation officer measures a footprint in the mud during the search for the bear in Bella Coola Saturday. (B.C. Conservation Officer Service\/The Canadian Press)What might have provoked the attack?\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to grizzly experts, as the size of a group of people goes up, the less likely it is that a bear will attack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brian Falconer of B.C.\u2019s Raincoast Conservation Foundation says that to his knowledge, there has never been an attack by a grizzly bear on a group of more than six people.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not rare,\u201d he said of the Bella Coola attack that involved at least 20 people. \u201cThis is unique.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He says we may never know what caused the bear to attack. He says bears have different personalities and comfort levels in terms of personal space.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt depends if you’re protecting cubs. If you’ve just had a battle with another male to protect your cubs, you’re on hyper alert.\u201d<\/p>\n
Authorities have not indicated whether anyone in the group that was attacked ran, which experts say could also heighten a bear\u2019s reaction.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to a statement from BCCOS last Friday, \u201cMultiple teachers physically intervened, using bear spray and a bear banger, to drive the bear away.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThankfully, the teachers were prepared,\u201d Van Damme said at a news briefing the same day. \u201cThey did everything they needed to do and they avoided serious injuries to others.\u201d<\/p>\n
WATCH | Witness accounts suggest female with cubs was involved in attack:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764026468_963_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Mother bear, 2 cubs likely involved in grizzly attack on school group: conservation officer<\/p>\n
Sgt. Jeff Tyre with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service says that, based on information officials received, there is ‘likely a sow and two cubs involved’ in the attack on a school group in Bella Coola. No bears have yet been trapped, he added. What happens once the grizzlies are found?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Van Damme says a number of professionals will work together to determine next steps after the bears are found, including the province\u2019s wildlife veterinarian, large carnivore specialist and wildlife biologist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big part will be the assessment of the bear,\u201d he said in an interview Monday with CBC\u2019s Ian Hanomansing. <\/p>\n
Doing that will potentially determine “why did this bear do something that we just don’t see with bear behaviour,” said Van Damme. “We won’t know any outcomes until we get more analysis completed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Falconer expects the community where the students and teachers in the attack were from will also be consulted. <\/p>\n
The Nuxalk Nation has coexisted with bears for thousands of years, he says, and may not feel the best solution is just to kill the offending bear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
WATCH | Living in bear country:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764252310_470_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Bella Coola resident calls grizzly attack ‘pretty terrifying’ | Hanomansing Tonight<\/p>\n
Three students and one teacher were hospitalized Thursday when a bear attacked a group of about 20 people in Bella Coola \u2014 a community about 420 kilometres northwest of Vancouver. Bella Coola Valley resident Tanyss Munro says she and other residents are fearful because of the dangers grizzly bears pose.<\/p>\n
Until the bear is definitively identified and the circumstances around the attack become more clear, it\u2019s impossible to say if the bears will be relocated or euthanized. <\/p>\n
Falconer says, most often when there have been injuries, the bear is put down. <\/p>\n
If it is a mother with cubs, experts say the age of the cubs will likely be part of the assessment, too, and could influence the decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How does relocation work?<\/p>\n
If the decision is to move the bear, there are two ways this is done.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Relocation is most often done to \u201cbuy time\u201d so that humans can remove anything that is attracting bears to the area, said Lana Ciarniello, an independent conservation scientist and co-chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) human-bear conflict expert team. <\/p>\n
For example, if someone has things like garbage, live chickens or even fruit trees in their yard, it could attract bears. Capturing the animals and moving them about 10 to 20 kms away gives humans an opportunity to install bear-proof garbage cans or electric fencing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to give the bear a chance and some time because this is a human problem that the bear is capitalizing on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bear will likely come back, Ciarniello says, but if it doesn’t find anything to eat, it will most likely move on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Translocation refers to moving bears a great distance from the attack spot, with the goal of not having it return. That may mean moving a bear hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away, sometimes even across a mountain range. <\/p>\n
But according to Ciarniello, that’s still not always a guarantee that the bear won\u2019t come back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s a male, big male, that was moved from Southwest B.C. years ago, decades ago, and they tracked his return. He was moved like thousands of kilometres \u2014 and he came all the way back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ciarniello says that rather than relocating and translocating bears, it would be better to “start addressing the root cause of all these conflicts.” <\/p>\n
She says that means better management of non-natural foods and things like garbage and unsecured chicken coops. <\/p>\n
![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764252310_844_default.jpg\")
Conservation scientist Lana Ciarniello says relocating bears rarely works, and that the focus should be on getting to the root of the problems that cause human-bear conflicts to prevent them. (Submitted by Lana Ciarniello)Is the attack related to end of trophy hunt?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since Friday\u2019s attack, there have been calls to bring back B.C.\u2019s grizzly bear trophy hunt<\/a>, which the provincial government ended in 2017<\/a>. Only First Nations are allowed to kill grizzlies pursuant to Indigenous rights, for food, social or ceremonial purposes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1764252311_619_default.jpg\")
A grizzly bear is seen travelling across the Porcupine River Tundra in the Yukon in 2009. While there have been calls to reinstate the trophy hunt in B.C., the minister resposible says that might not be the solution. (Rick Bowmer\/The Associated Press)<\/p>\n