November 26, 2012 - Two hikers were attacked by a grizzly
bear in Southeast British Columbia on Sunday, according to CTV News.
The man and woman had been walking in Cherry Creek, near
Kimberley, B.C., when they came across a grizzly bear feeding on a deer it had killed.
“The hikers got within 15 feet, unknowingly, and it startled the grizzly bear,”
Sgt. Joe Caravetta, of the East Kootenay Conservation Officer Service, said
Monday.
The grizzly bear attacked the female hiker first, then
turned on the male hiker, only to return to the female and continue its attack.
The woman is in her late 50s and the man is 80.
Sustaining bite injuries to the head, arms and legs, the
pair were rushed to a local hospital and then flown to a Calgary hospital where
they remain in stable condition.
After assessing the evidence, conservation officers
classified the incident as defensive in nature. The bear was believed to have
two cubs with it. “The bear was just defending its food,” Caravetta said,
adding that had the grizzly been acting in a predatory fashion, conservation
officers would be pursuing the animals to destroy them.
The man and woman are local to the area where the attack
occurred, and regularly hike there.
