Mother grizzly bear attacks two hikers near Fernie-Tiffany Crawford

Mother grizzly bear attacks two hikers near Fernie-Tiffany Crawford

Rating: ***

                Imagine enjoying a nice hike in beautiful British Columbia with a good friend, and suddenly you cross paths with one protective momma bear… Probably the last thing you were hoping to run into on your morning hike.

                In July of 2013, on a hiking trail that gets used often, two men in their thirties encountered a female grizzly and her cub. The sow did not appreciate their presence and went after them.  The first man was able to successfully use bear spray to get her away from him, so she went after his friend. She beat up the second man pretty bad by knocking him and down and chewing on his limbs. One of the men was armed with a gun and he decided to fire the gun as a form of self-defense in hopes to get the angry momma grizzly away. It was really their only option as she attacked. The man shot the sow and she then took off with her cub. Both men had suffered non-life-threatening injuries but were both treated in hospitals after the attack. Conservation officers were on the lookout for this sow because they were not sure if she had died from being shot or if she was just injured. They had hopes of finding the sow and being able to deal with her injuries, whether they were severe or not. They say that the attack was not a predatory attack; it was just a protective momma bear that happened to come across two hikers who managed to find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

                This article reminded me that as hikers, bikers and campers, we are sharing the land and wilderness with wild animals that were there first. It shows that you need to be careful about what you are doing and where you are during what season. If someone is planning on going out into the wilderness, they need to keep these seasons in mind. This article for example proves that a sow with a cub is probably going to end up being more aggressive and defensive than she would have been during a season where she not does have young at her side.  I will be sure to keep in mind that these wild animals were there first and to know proper ways to deal with coming across these animals if it ever occurred.

Crawford, Tiffany. Mother grizzly bear attacks two hikers near Fernie. Vancouver: July 5^th 2013

(Mackenzie Burns)