Bear attacks woman, conservation officer in Mission, B.C.

A woman and a conservation officer sustained minor injuries after they were attacked by a bear in Mission, B.C., early Sunday morning.

Inspector Murray Smith said the woman went outside after she heard her dogs barking shortly after midnight and came face-to-face with a black bear.

"The bear jumped into the house, the woman fell over during this approach and the bear jumped on her back and bit her," Smith said.

The woman's boyfriend managed to scare the bear away and took the woman to the hospital. She has since been released with minor injuries.

Smith said RCMP officers called the Conservation Officer Service to the house on Wren Street, which is near a ravine in a quiet subdivision.

When the conservation officer arrived, the sow came down from the tree, where she was sitting with her two cubs, and bit the officer in the leg.

Bears killed

The bear was shot. Her two cubs have since been killed as well.

"From everything the neighbours had said the bears had been around for multiple days and they hadn't left ... they were into garbage in the neighourhood and fruit trees," Smith said.

"And so the decision was made that all the bears were ... human habituated, which means they have lost their fear of people."

Smith said most bears would have run away after the woman opened her door. The fact that this one didn't was a clear indication to the officers that it was a problem bear.

Today officers went around the area and reminded residents to pick their fruit trees and put away their garbage.

Smith encouraged anyone who sees a bear to call the Conservation Officer Service's RAPP hotline so officers can deal with problem bears sooner, and hopefully prevent incidents like this.

The officer who was bitten has been released from the hospital with minor injuries.