"The Outcome Could Have Been Much Worse"

"This unprecedented grizzly bear attack occurred without provocation and has resulted in significant trauma to our community."

"We are incredibly proud of our teachers and students who responded heroically in the moment to protect one another."

"The outcome could have been much worse."

Nuxalk Nation Chief Samuel Schooner 

A file photo of Acwsalcta School in Bella Coola, B.C. The school reopened after a grizzly bear attack seriously hurt three pupils and a teacher earlier this week. (Dillon Hodgin/CBC)

 

"When the kids were getting attacked, one of my cousins who had his skull ripped, ran towards the bear and jumped on it with his bare hands."

"He started punching and kicking it."

"[Another teacher unloaded two cans of bear spray [into the eyes of the animal] never even fazed it, didn’t do anything to the bear."

"Another lady, a teacher with crutches, was whacking it, hitting it [in the] eyes, in the face, in the head, for minutes and then the bear finally took off."

"I’m amazed by the heroism and the bravery they had to protect the kids."

"One of them had 100 stitches, fractured shoulder, fractured elbow, fractured ankle. It’s amazing none of them were killed." 

Noel Pootlass, a hereditary chief of the Nuxalk First Nation  

File photo of a grizzly bear. Photo by Elaine Thompson /AP

 

This past Thursday, teachers were out with twenty of their Grade 4 and 5 students from the Nuxalk Nation's Acwsalcta School on a nature walk close to the Bella Coola river. No one expected that the field trip would result in an encounter with grizzly bears. Despite which the teachers were sufficiently seasoned and steeped in all possibilities leading to a potential disaster and had equipped themselves with bear spray and bangers 'just in case'. Just in case turned out to be just what happened, when a mother bear and her two cubs, unseen by the hikers were in the near vicinity and the sow did not take kindly to the presence of people she judged as a potential threat to her offspring.

 

The school hikers had stopped for lunch along a forest trail, when suddenly they were accosted by a grizzly bear that emerged without warning to attack them. "We all heard a growl, then a lot of the kids were scared", reported ten-year-old Alvarez. There was an immediate reaction by one of the teachers, firing off a bear banger and using bear spray, desperately trying to divert the immense beast from its proximity to the children.

 

Fearful children scattered in panic as the bear circled and attacked. In the end,, a number of teachers and children were injured, four of whom remain hospitalized.  "We are in constant contact with the victims and their families and continue to support them in every way we can. We know they are receiving the best care our medical professionals can offer, and we are grateful for that. We continue to ask for privacy for the victims; these are children and they deserve to recover with their families in a safe and comforting environment", stated Nuxalk Nation elected Chief Samuel Schooner.

 

Paramedics responded to the 911 call for help and soon arrived on scene near Highway 20, where they found four people with serious injuries, two in critical condition and another two whose condition was serious. First aid was given to seven others at the scene, who did not require hospital treatment. In the wake of the attack, RCMP and conservation officers searched the forest on B.C.'s Central Coast overnight for the grizzly, without success, and the search resumed the following day.  

 

Conservation officers said two bears have been captured in the area of an attack last Thursday on a Bella Coola school group. Photo by Facebook/B.C. Conservation Office

 

As a result of inclement weather conditions, the B.C. Ambulance Service called the Joint Rescue Centre in Victoria requesting assistance with medical evacuation. A Kingfisher fixed-wing aircraft was sent from Canadian Forces Base Comox, along with a CH-149 Cormorant helicopter. "Due to inclement weather, both the Kingfisher and the Cormorant were unable to land in Bella Coola and were stood down at 9:30 p.m.", advised the JRCC.

 

Plan B went into effect, when the injured were taken by road ambulance on the 450-kilometre highway to Williams Lake airport, then flown by air ambulance to hospitals in Vancouver. People were asked to avoid the forested area and river, and area residents were advised to remain indoors for the time being. 

 

According to the British Columbia Wildlife Federation, grizzly bear attacks have been on the increase since the province banned hunting back in 2017. "With no hunting pressure, grizzlies and humans will increasingly occupy the same spaces with inevitable consequences", explained Jesse Zeman, B.C. Wildlife Federation executive director. British Columbia has an estimated 15,000 resident grizzlies, a substantial number of the estimated 26,000 grizzly bears in all of Canada.

 

File photo: A grizzly bear is seen fishing along a river in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park near Bella Coola. Photo by Jonathan Hayward/Cp /PNG

 

Almost to a week after the Bella Coola grizzly encounter, two of the animals were located. One of which exhibited no symptoms of having been involved in the bear-human altercation. It now wears a GPS tracker and has been re-located. The second bear is being examined, with no evidence yet discovered of its possible involvement in the episode. The search continues for a third bear. It is unknown what the fate of either of the two bears might be if they are found to have been involved in the encounter.