Girl, 10 critically injured in Port Coquitlam, B.C. black bear attack

PORT COQUITLAM, B.C. – A 10-year old B.C. girl is in hospital after being attacked by a female black bear in Port Coquitlam, just east of Vancouver.

A spokeswoman for the B.C. Ambulance Service described the child’s injuries as critical.

The attack happened late Saturday afternoon on a trail near a river in the city’s River Springs neighbourhood.

Conservation inspector Murray Smith said the bear had been with its cub at the time.

Smith says the mother bear would not leave the heavily populated area and as a result had to be destroyed.

He says the cub is being held in a facility until it’s old enough to take care of itself when it will be released back into the wild.

Smith said conservation officers would try to determine whether the bears ventured into the community because they were attracted by garbage and whether they might have lost their fear of humans through previous contact with people.

(News 1130, The Canadian Press)