A woman has sustained non-life threatening injuries after a surprise encounter with a grizzly bear in the Horsefly area Friday evening.
Williams Lake Conservation Officer, Jeff Tyre says the couple, who were hiking in a remote area in the alpine did everything right in what he calls a freak accident.
“It was simply a matter of surprise; the bear couldn’t see them and they couldn’t see the bear until they crested over the top of a hill.”
“They had bear spray. The male was armed in this case with a rifle, but it happened so quickly that all they could do was raise their hands in the air and yell at the bear, wave and make themselves as large as they could.”
“The wind was blowing from what I understand, very hard making a noise almost ineffective.”
Tyre says the bear ran away after releasing the woman, with the couple able to leave the area and get hospital care.
He says Conservation Officers have investigated the scene and that from examining the site the bear was highly stressed.
“From the behavior that’s been explained to us, this was not predatory.”
“It was simply an accident. The bear was scared. It initially fought but then it just exited the area as quickly as it could.”
“That’s what we would expect in this sort of a situation.”
Despite not being to locate the bear, Tyre says there is no risk to the public.
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