A mother grizzly and her three yearling cubs hunted down and killed a 48-year-old woman and her 20-year-old daughter on a trail near Bella Coola, British Columbia, in what investigators confirmed was a rare predatory bear attack — the kind of event that reminds ordinary people living near wilderness that predator management policy isn't abstract, it's life and death.
DNA and forensic analysis conclusively linked the four grizzlies to the deaths of Jenny Balcarras and her daughter Selah Reed, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service announced Tuesday. All four bears were killed. Inspector Jeff Tyre didn't mince words: bears that kill humans cannot be rehabilitated or relocated because they present an extreme risk to the public.
The women went missing November 1 after an afternoon walk. Family raised the alarm when Reed missed her routine Saturday night call with her sister. Searchers found the remains roughly 150 meters apart. According to CBS News, Reed's body was discovered in a bear cache — where bears store food. That detail alone tells you everything about what happened. This wasn't a startled encounter or a mother defending cubs.
