‘Hero’ teachers fended off grizzly that attacked students on Canada walking trail, injuring 11, officials said

Well-prepared and well-equipped teachers may have stopped a grizzly bear attack on their group of Canadian schoolchildren in British Columbia before it turned deadly, authorities said Friday.

Two people were seriously injured, two were seriously injured and seven others were treated at the scene Thursday afternoon, British Columbia Emergency Health Services said in a news release.

At a news conference Friday, Tamara Davidson, the Canadian province’s minister of environment and parks, said three children and one adult were seriously injured and remained hospitalized. Their relatives did not want to disclose the patients’ latest conditions, she said.

“I want to recognize teachers who have taken great risks to protect their students,” she said. “Their actions deserve our utmost respect and gratitude. They were well prepared and they are the true heroes.”

Kevin Van Damme of the BC Conservation Officer Service said teachers used bear spray and small noisemakers called Bear Bangers to repel the animal in the area of ​​Bella Coola, the name of a small town and its underlying valley between the Coast Range and Queen Charlotte Sound.

“During a school field trip, the group had stopped along a trail near the community where a single grizzly bear had emerged from the forest and attacked,” he explained. “Teachers put themselves in harm’s way to protect children. They definitely avoided even more serious injuries.”

Authorities were collecting evidence at the site of the attack to help identify and capture the bear, Van Damme said. Meanwhile, residents and visitors to the area, known for its outdoor activities, have been urged to stay indoors.

“I really have to emphasize how dangerous this situation is with this bear on the loose,” Van Damme said, adding later at the news conference: “I haven’t seen an attack like this, with a large group of people.”

He added that an incident involving more than a dozen people is “extremely rare.”

The Nuxalk Indigenous Nation in the area has asked everyone in the area to “avoid all trails.”

The board and administration of Acwsalcta School, an independent institution operated by the Nuxalk Nation in Bella Coola, said in a statement that the school would remain closed on Monday and counseling would be available.

Parent Veronica Schooner told The Associated Press that among the many who tried to stop the attack, one teacher “took the brunt of it” and was taken to the hospital.

Schooner said her 10-year-old son Alvarez was among a class of fourth and fifth graders attacked by the bear and was close enough that “he even smelled its fur.”

“He said this bear was running so close to him, but it was chasing someone else,” Schooner said.

She said some children were affected by the bear spray.

The Assembly of First Nations of British Columbia, an umbrella organization for the province’s 204 Indigenous First Nations, said the attack should prompt a reconsideration of measures to prevent such incidents.

“This event raises important questions about safety protocols, community preparedness, and respect for First Nations knowledge of wildlife management,” the organization said in a statement that also expressed solidarity with the Nuxalk Nation.

The BC Wildlife Federation, a non-profit organization that works to preserve the environment, said Friday that the provincial ban on grizzly bear hunting in 2017 correlates with an increase in such attacks because the bears, which are numerous in Bella Coola, have been freer to learn behaviors that are dangerous to humans.

Since the ban began, the federation said in a statement Friday, the number of bear reports to the BC Conservation Officer Service has doubled.

“Without hunting pressure, grizzly bears and humans will increasingly occupy the same spaces, with inevitable consequences,” said Jesse Zeman, executive director of the BC Wildlife Federation.

While the federation expressed hope the incident would lead to a review of the hunting ban, Davidson, the province’s parks minister, said it was too soon.

“This is an ongoing situation where the bear is still on the loose and the community does not feel safe,” she said. “No consideration at this time.”

At the same time, Davidson said, his ministry hopes that the families of those attacked will experience “healing and comfort in the coming days.”