Get you up to speed: Mum and daughter on ‘casual walk’ found dead in suspected grizzly bear attack | News World
Jennifer Balcarras, 48, and her daughter Selah Reed, 20, were found dead near the Snooka West Trail in Bella Coola, British Columbia, following a suspected grizzly bear attack. The pair was reported missing by family members after they failed to return from a walk on Saturday, and Balcarras’s remains were discovered on Monday, with Reed’s body located the following day.
The British Columbia Conservation Officer Services has initiated trapping efforts in response to the attack, but no bears have yet been captured. Authorities have advised residents to refrain from entering the area as the investigation continues to determine the bear’s involvement in the incident.
British Columbia Conservation Officer Services has begun trapping efforts for bears following the deaths of Jennifer Balcarras and her daughter Selah Reed, emphasising the need for community members to avoid the area during the investigation. If a bear is determined responsible for the attack, it will be dispatched to ensure public safety, as mandated by provincial guidelines.
What remains unclear — It is not confirmed whether any bears have been captured in connection with the attack.
Mother and daughter found dead in suspected grizzly bear attack in BC
Jennifer Balcarras and Selah Reed were found dead near a walking trail (Picture: GoFundMe)
A Canadian family has been left grief-stricken after a mother and her youngest daughter were killed in what appears to have been a grizzly bear attack on a walking trail.
The body of Jennifer Balcarras, 48, was found in the Snooka West trail of Bella Coola, British Columbia, on Monday, with evidence suggesting an animal was involved.
Her 20-year-old daughter Selah Reed was then found dead on Tuesday afternoon following an extensive search by Royal Canadian Mounted Police and conservation officers, Vancouver Sun reports.
The pair were reported missing by family members on Sunday after they failed to attend an online meet-up planned for Saturday night.
After asking the authorities to conduct a wellness check on them, Jennifer’s car was located at a nearby trailhead, prompting the search.
The mother and daughter were said to be familiar with the walking trail (Picture: GoFundMe)
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Her brother, Josh Balcarras, told CBC: ‘It’s surreal. It doesn’t seem real. It feels like a dream.
‘The way it starts is a few hours of not hearing from them. That turns into a day, and then a night…then a second night comes and it becomes a real thing.’
He added that the pair lived just five minutes from the trail and were very familiar with it, calling it ‘just a casual walk’.
Jennifer, an art therapist who was a mother of four and a grandmother, moved to Bella Coola earlier this year to pursue a new career.
A GoFundMe set up to raise money for the pair’s funeral expenses reads: ‘She was working toward building a future and had not yet had the opportunity to establish savings or put aside funds to help her family with unexpected expenses such as these.
‘Tragically, no one could have anticipated that her family would be faced with such an unimaginable loss.’
Selah, meanwhile, had worked as an educational assistant and attended Athabasca University’s online education programme.
Her family described her as ‘a gentle, sweet, quiet soul’ while Josh added: ‘She liked a lot of the same things Jenny liked. I think they got along really, really well.
‘They were two peas in a pod. When Jenny hiked, Selah was right there.’
Authorities in Bella Coola said no bear had not yet been captured (Picture: Google maps)
British Columbia Conservation Officer Services (BCCOS) spokesperson, Inspector Jeff Tyre, said in a statement: ‘Our thoughts are with the families of the victims during this tragic time.’
Trapping efforts are now underway, he said, but no bears have been captured. Once any bears are caught, BCCOS said it would work to determine their next steps.
‘If the bear is determined to be the bear responsible for the attack, it will be dispatched to ensure public safety, as per provincial human-wildlife conflict response guidelines,’ Tyre added.
He also urged locals to stay away from the area to allow conservation officers to investigate the attack.
Grizzly bears are commonplace in Bella Coola, an area informally known as the Great Bear Rainforest due to its remote location and food resources.
While attacks in the region remain comparatively rare, one last year saw 11 people, including children as young as nine years old, injured when a grizzly bear attacked a school party who were on a walking trail at the time.
Russia has also seen several bear attacks recently (Picture: REUTERS)
The latest attack follows similar incidents across the world in recent months.
Last month, a boy was saved during a bear attack in Russia after his smartphone exploded in the creature’s face.
The 15-year-old was attacked in the Altai region while tending his family’s beehives, with reports suggesting the device, which had been in his back pocket, ignited as the animal tried to bite it.
In September, a woman in her sixties was mauled to death by a brown bear outside her home, also in Russia, on the edge of a remote forest.
The victim, identified by Russian media only as Lyudmila T, was found around 50ft from her house in Verkhniy Kebezh, in the Krasnoyarsk region.
In August, a woman in her 80s was mauled by a bear which broke into her Colorado home through an open window while she slept.
In the US, a couple in California were saved from a bear attack by their bulldog Cassie in September — although their pet sadly died from her injuries.
Officials in Colorado have pointed to a drought year affecting food sources in the state.
This can lead bears to take greater risks to secure food as they enter hyperphagia — a natural phase which occurs between late summer and early autumn as they build the fat reserves needed to survive winter hibernation.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife explains that at this time they can spend up to 20 hours a day searching for food, and this year has been particularly challenging as many of the animals’ natural food sources — such as berries, nuts, grasses and plants — have been depleted by low mountain snowpack, wildfires and drought.
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