A 26-year-old woman has died after being mauled by a bear in Alberta, the third fatal attack in the western Canadian province in three months.
The victim was working in a remote area for a helicopter company transporting professional tree planters when she was attacked by a black bear near Swan Hills, about 100 miles north of Edmonton, the provincial capital, police said.
Witnesses managed to scare the animal off, allowing the victim’s colleague to carry her on to a helicopter and fly to a local airport, where waiting paramedics pronounced her dead. Her family asked that her name not be released.
“Fish and wildlife officers are investigating the incident and have set up a trail camera and traps in the area,” said a spokeswoman for Alberta’s Ministry of Justice and Solicitor General. “Officers took samples from the victim’s clothing, which are being analysed to create a DNA profile of the offending bear.”
Three black bears have been found near the site of the attack. Officials are awaiting test results to see if any of them are linked to it. It is the third fatal bear attack in Alberta since May; the province normally averages one a year.
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Experts say the pandemic, which has seen more Canadians head into the wilds, has led to more encounters with bears — and more conflict. Recent research, meanwhile, has shown that the numbers of grizzly bears, which are generally considered more dangerous than black bears, have doubled in parts of northern Alberta.
“There is a trend of increasing bear attacks in Canada and the US, but it is still a very rare occurrence,” Kim Titchener, a bear safety expert in Alberta, told The Times. “This year we have seen a much higher number of fatalities than usual.”
In May, David Lertzman, an instructor at the University of Calgary, was killed by a bear while jogging near his home. Days later, a female grizzly bear with cubs killed a woman in Water Valley, 60 miles north of Calgary, as she went for an evening stroll.
Across western Canada, rubbish bins are secured with bear locks, walkers carry bear spray and residents are constantly on the lookout. Bears that lash out are normally euthanised, prompting wildlife experts to plead with the public to minimise their interaction with the animals.
Black bears, which number 750,000 in North America, tend to be one of the more cautious bear species, and fatal attacks involving them occur less than once a year on average across the continent.
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Scientists trace their circumspection to the last Ice Age, which ended about 11,000 years ago, when North America was home to predators such as sabre-toothed cats, hulking lions, dire wolves and giant short-faced bears. Strong climbers, black bears evolved to stay near trees and mostly developed the mindset of prey rather than predator, experts say.
