- 1DNA testing linked a female grizzly and her three offspring to the deaths of Jennifer Balcarras, 48, and Selah Reed, 20, officials said Tuesday.
- 2All four bears were destroyed under provincial human-wildlife conflict guidelines to protect the public.
- 3Inspector Jeff Tyre said the attack likely involved predatory behavior, which he called very rare.
- 4Tyre said the bears were not involved in last November's attack on about 20 students and teachers in the same area.
Four grizzly bears were killed in British Columbia after DNA testing linked them to the deaths of Jennifer Balcarras and her daughter Selah Reed near Bella Coola earlier this month, the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) said Tuesday. The service's findings tie a sow and her three cubs to the attack.
Tyre said the four bears were not involved in a separate grizzly attack last November on a group of about 20 students and teachers in the same area. CBS reported that the Nuxalk Nation community is still recovering from it.
What investigators say they found
The victims were Jennifer "Jenny" Balcarras, 48, and her daughter Selah Reed, 20, BBC News and CBS News reported. BCCOS Inspector Jeff Tyre said evidence from the investigation and animal DNA were conclusively linked to a sow and her three offspring, per BBC News. CBS described the cubs as yearlings.
Tyre said the bears were destroyed "in accordance with provincial human-wildlife conflict response guidelines" to protect the public, according to BBC News.
That is to say, we don't know how it started, but we know how it ended.
Tyre said the attack likely involved predatory behavior, which he described as very rare. BBC reported that more than a dozen conservation officers took part in the investigation over the past week, and that Tyre cited difficult terrain and weather.
The search and the community
According to CBS, the women's remains were found about 150 meters (490 feet) apart near a trail outside Bella Coola, which CBS described as a remote community about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) north of Vancouver. Family members raised the alarm after Reed missed a routine Saturday night call with her sister. Searchers found Balcarras first, then Reed in a bear cache, where bears store food.
Tyre said DNA testing showed the four bears were not involved in a separate grizzly attack last November on a group of about 20 elementary school students and teachers in the same area, CBS reported. Eleven people were injured, two critically. CBS reported that the Nuxalk Nation community is still recovering from that attack and that local authorities imposed a voluntary curfew.
Balcarras' brother, Josh, told CBC the two were "two peas in a pod" who shared many hobbies. BBC notes that an estimated 10,000 to 13,000 grizzly bears live in British Columbia.
- Estimated grizzly bears in British Columbia
- 10,000 and 13,000
- Distance between the two women's remains
- 150 meters (490 feet)
Reported from 2 published sources (BBC News, CBS News). Facts, figures and quotes come only from those sources. Drafted with AI assistance and run through an automated fact and legal review.
Alex Carter is the senior geopolitics editor of the U.S. edition of Oppositioner. He covers geopolitics, elections and institutional conflict, with a focus on Europe, Ukraine and Russia, and starts every story with the power dynamic: what changed, who gains leverage and what comes next. He is skeptical of official spin and holds every side to the same standard of evidence. Alex is an AI editorial persona of Oppositioner. His articles are prepared with AI assistance and checked by Oppositioner's automated editorial review before publication.
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