Posted on 07/27/2025 6:20:24 PM PDT by jerod
Conservation officers say trails closed in area after e-bikers attacked by 2 grizzly bears in southeast B.C.
A man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries following a grizzly bear attack near Creston, B.C., officers say.
The B.C. Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) said in a social media post that the attack happened around 4:30 p.m. Saturday when a husband and wife were riding e-bikes along the Kootenay River near West Creston in southeast B.C.
The service said the wife heard her husband scream and saw a grizzly bear running at her. She used bear spray and then realized a second bear was attacking her husband.
"Emergency services were called, and the man was transported to hospital in Cranbrook by ambulance, where he underwent surgery," the BCCOS said.
RCMP said in a separate statement that the attack happened in the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area. Investigators believe the bears are two to three years old and are known to have been in the area over the last few years.
According to police, the two victims were riding their bikes along the park's dike system, near a bat hut, when they were attacked.
"The preparedness in this case by way of ready access and use of bear spray may prove to have been a life-saving measure," said Creston RCMP Staff Sgt. Brandon Buliziuk in the statement, reminding hikers to be prepared to encounter predators in the wild.
The BCCOS says conservation officers swept the area after the attack and didn't locate the bears.
They closed three major trails in the area, installed signage and set up traps on Saturday night, but no bears were captured.
The BCCOS is still searching for the grizzlies as of Saturday afternoon, according to the social media post. It says trails in the area will be closed until further notice.
CBC News has reached out to B.C. Emergency Health Services and the BCCOS for more information.
Creston Mayor Arnold DeBoon, a former conservation officer, told CBC News that there have been concerted efforts over the last few decades to restore grizzly bears in the Creston Valley.
"Over the years, they certainly have increased in numbers in the Creston Valley itself," he said.
"Because it's agricultural land, these grizzlies have made a home down in the valley and feed quite nicely on silage corn in late summer, and they've certainly tried to get at cherry orchards and other orchards here."
DeBoon said it was the third grizzly attack he was aware of in the area in the last few years, but the two previous ones didn't result in life-threatening injuries.
"It's something we worry about because we do have fairly thick cover in places in the valley," he said.
"I'm sure there have been many times people have walked by grizzly bears and they're in thick cover."
He advised people in the backcountry to be on the lookout for telltale signs of bear activity, like bear poop, scratch marks and overturned rocks.
"When you're focused on something that you enjoy, you're not always thinking about what the risk factor is ... and again, there are probably a lot of people here that aren't aware of the number of grizzlies that do live quietly in our valley," the mayor said.
Must be liberals.
Fortunately in most states in the US we can carry-unless I’m in very familiar territory/woods, I do carry a pistol, as much for the threat of 2 legged predators as any 4 legged ones...
“...there have been concerted efforts over the last few decades to restore grizzly bears in the Creston Valley.”
They want to do the same here in Washington state. There is a reason why Lewis and Clark shot every bear that they saw.
...and remember, your e-bike doesn’t have to be fast enough to outrun the bear, it only has to be fast enough to outrun your buddy’s e-bike.
You can’t carry a Barrett .50 caliber or any other firearm in most of Canada, where this happened. Since that is the case, I think they should close the trails in grizzly country to hikers/bikers unless they are in a large group for the sake of safety...
I don’t care if they restore grizzlies to protected wildlife areas-as long as they close that area to hikers/bikers alone or in small unarmed groups. They can’t have both huge aggressive bears and flower picking, clueless unarmed hikers in the same woods-that is just a special kind of stupid...
Most likely.
I see, I wasn’t aware of that. Good Lord that must be sight to see one of these creatures in action.
“That’s just nuts”, says RTS.
Alaska State Troopers don’t even bother asking about firearms unless they are arresting. They assume everyone has shotguns (12 gauge slugs for bears), rifles for bears and handguns for backup for bears. A shot in the air over a bear usually scares them anyway. Then there is wolves around your livestock on the farm.
And in some places bear spray is prohibited.
After incidents like this I often wonder what the thought process is of those individuals that choose to go into wild areas with large predators, and are poorly prepared for an encounter.
What would Brian Boitano do?
When Brian Boitano was in the Alps
Fighting grizzly bears
He used his magical fire breath
And saved the maidens fair
No firearms allowed by dumbass Canadian governments. Their typical lib will say - “The bears were here first”
“and again, there are probably a lot of people here that aren’t aware of the number of grizzlies that do live quietly in our valley,” the mayor said.”
They’re mostly peaceful grizzly bears, I suppose.
They can’t have both huge aggressive bears and flower picking, clueless unarmed hikers in the same woods-that is just a special kind of stupid...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..
Speaking of huge aggressive bears, guy in our coffee group went online this morning and confirmed that the largest of the species is the Polar and some maintain it’s the most dangerous.
Yeah. Talk about ringing the dinner bell.
“E-bikes typically do about 20 mph”
Not the ones kids in and around my neighborhood have. As I said I think they have been tampered with. The BMX style bike I see were buzzing around at 40 easy. These aren’t those peddle assisted slugs.
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