A bow hunter is being treated in hospital after he was mauled by a grizzly bear outside Cranbrook, B.C. Tuesday evening.
Conservation officers said the man was hunting elk in an agricultural area around 7:30 p.m. when he encountered a grizzly sow with two cubs.
He yelled at the bear to scare it away, but the animal charged in his direction.
“At that point he tried to put an arrow toward the bear,” said Insp. Joe Caravetta. “The grizzly then continued on with the attack, biting and clawing and throwing him around.”
Carrying his bow in one hand and an arrow in the other, the hunter was eventually able to fight off the bear and get to his vehicle.
He was taken to a nearby hospital then airlifted to Calgary. The extent of his injuries hasn’t been released, but they are not life-threatening.
Caravetta said conservation officers cleared other hunters out of the area, then returned to examine the scene on Wednesday morning.
They managed to locate all of the hunter’s arrows and don’t believe the bear was fatally wounded.
“None of the arrows show any indication of blood or grizzly bear hair on them,” Caravetta said. “If the bear is not fatally injured to where it needs to be euthanized out of [humanitarian] reasons, we do not feel at this time that we’ll pursue the bear.”
Officials said there have been more bear complaints in the area than usual this year, likely because the hot weather has left few berries in the mountains and driven bears into the valley to prepare for hibernation.
