Four grizzlies killed after fatal Bella Coola attack

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service said Tuesday that a grizzly sow and her three offspring were responsible for the deadly attack on a mother and daughter near Bella Coola, B.C., and that all four bears have been captured and killed.

Insp. Jeff Tyre gave the update Nov. 10, saying forensic evidence tied the bears to the attack. “Evidence from the investigation, as well as animal DNA, was analyzed and conclusively linked to a sow and its three offspring,” Tyre said, according to Global News.

CTV News reported that the cubs were less than a year old. Neither outlet said where or when the bears were captured.

Tyre said the attack likely involved predatory behaviour, which he described as very rare. “We don’t know how it started, but we know how it ended,” he said, according to Global News.

He said the decision to destroy the animals followed provincial guidelines on responding to conflicts between people and wildlife. “After considering all the evidence and in accordance with provincial human wildlife conflict response guidelines, these bears have been dispatched to protect the public,” Tyre said. He told reporters that bears involved in fatal attacks on people cannot be rehabilitated or relocated, CTV News reported.

“We hope the efforts of everyone who responded, along with these findings, bring some measure of closure,” Tyre said, according to CTV News.

The two women were reported missing after they did not return from a hike near the Bella Coola Valley. As we reported earlier this month, the first remains were found on the Snooka West Trail area, and the second set was found during a search by conservation officers and the RCMP, Global News reported. The attack happened last week.

Officials also said the four bears were not involved in a separate 2025 attack in Bella Coola that injured one adult and three children at a school. The animal in that attack was never located, CTV News reported. The community is still dealing with the effects of that incident, and police escorted students in the days after the latest attack.

Samuel Schooner, elected chief of the Nuxalk Nation, asked that the privacy of the family and the community be respected. He said supports will be in place for as long as they are needed. “This attack has been deeply retriggering for our community members as we continue to recover from last year’s attack,” Schooner said, according to CTV News.

Global News said its story was still developing. No details have been released on next steps in the investigation, and officials have not announced any trail or area closures.

Bear attacks that kill people are rare in British Columbia, and the conservation service says predatory encounters are rarer still. Anyone hiking in bear country is urged to carry bear spray, travel in groups and make noise, according to standard B.C. wildlife safety guidance.

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Via CTV News and Global News. File photo of a grizzly bear in British Columbia, not from the attack site.