Conservation officers believe a bear that attacked a young girl in North Vancouver on Friday (July 25) is likely habituated to humans and conditioned to human food.
BC Conservation Officer Service says the girl, 10, was walking at Rice Lake Park with her family around 3 p.m. when the bear approached them.
“As the family and a bystander tried to scare the bear away, the bear bit the girl,” the conservation service said in a statement on Saturday morning. The girl was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries and no one else was injured.
The conservation services’s predator attack team was on scene Friday night and into Saturday searching for the bear, who they believe was exhibiting signs that it is used to humans.
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Officials said that there have been multiple reported sightings of a small black bear in the park, noting that conservation officers have found discarded food and garbage through the area.
The park will be closed for at least five days.
In the meantime, the conservation service is urging the public to secure all attractants in closed garbages – whether at home or outside.
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