A lack of berries, and hungry bears focused on putting on weight before hibernation, are being blamed for the latest grizzly attack in B.C. -- this time in the Kootenays.
A hunter is expected to recover after being mauled yesterday morning northeast of Sparwood when he came between a mother grizzly, her cubs and a recent kill.
Conservation officers say there was nothing the hunter could have done -- he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time -- and they say the bear was acting defensively and won't be put down.
Other grizzly attacks in B.C. this month have occurred near Cranbrook, south of Invermere, and near Fort Nelson -- where the two hunters injured in the northern incident are now raising money to thank the first responders who saved their lives.
