BURST
The B.C. Conservation Officer Service backtracked on a previous statement on Friday, saying the bear killed Aug. 9 by Mounties was indeed the one that mauled a Maple Ridge toddler on her patio.
After three-year-old Anaiyah Lekei was attacked on her back patio by the black bear — which was driven off by her father and neighbours — RCMP shot and killed a bear close to the site of the incident.
The Service initially said it was not the bear involved in the attack.
“Based on the evidence available to our investigators at the time, we initially concluded that this was not the bear involved in the attack,” Sgt. Jeremy Pauls of the Conservation Officer Service said Friday. “Following further investigation, including a reassessment of the evidence, additional evidence gathering, and DNA analysis, we can now confirm the bear dispatched was in fact the bear responsible for the attack.”
He said no other bears have been killed in connection with the incident.
“We recognize the impact of our earlier assessment and apologize for the confusion it caused. We’re grateful to the RCMP officers who responded quickly to protect public safety. With these findings, the (service) is concluding its investigation.”
Anaiyah Lekei was flown to B.C. Children’s Hospital with serious wounds suffered to her neck and head and continues her recovery.
Two more bear encounters were reported in B.C. on Friday.
Just before 10 a.m. in Stoney Hill Regional Park near Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, a woman hiking with her off-leash dogs in came across a sow and cub, with the adult bear attacking the dogs.
The woman intervened and received undisclosed injuries from the bear, and the dogs survived.
No bear was found when conservation officers swept the area, and the park was closed temporarily to ensure public safety. The service considered the attack defensive in nature and had no plans to pursue the bears involved.
In Nelson, conservation officers killed a sow grizzly bear that had been exhibiting “food-conditioned behaviour and a significant loss of fear of people,” including repeatedly visiting residential properties and non-natural food sources such as barbecues.
Two yearlings associated with the sow were captured and released at an undisclosed location where they can continue to be monitored.
The mother grizzly had been monitored for several years with attempts to reduce her human-wildlife contact, and had even relocated with a previous set of cubs in 2023., the service said.
But as the bear showed “increasing comfort” in residential areas, a second relocation was not considered an option.