Grizzly Bear That Mauled School Group Still Unaccounted for After Attack

Authorities in British Columbia are continuing an urgent search for a mother grizzly and her two cubs, four days after the animals charged a group of elementary school students and teachers on a midday outing — an episode local officials describe as one of the most alarming wildlife encounters the region has seen.

The violent incident happened Thursday, Nov. 20 near the Four Mile subdivision of Bella Coola, a community linked with the Nuxalk Nation, the Provincial Health Services Authority previously confirmed to PEOPLE in a statement. Students, some only 9 years old, were eating lunch along a trail when the bear emerged from the trees and began attacking without warning.

In the chaos that followed, three teachers stepped between the bear and the children. One emptied two full cans of bear spray with little impact. Another physically jumped onto the bear, hitting it repeatedly. A third used her crutches to strike the animal until it retreated back into the forest.

Three children were taken to a nearby hospital — two with life-threatening injuries — and one adult was airlifted to Vancouver for treatment, Inspector Kevin Van Damme confirmed in a video update posted to Facebook. Seven more people were treated locally for less severe injuries.

“Our thoughts are with the victim[s] and their families,” Van Damme said. “We wish them a full and speedy recovery”

British Columbia’s environment minister, Tamara Davidson, praised the quick-thinking staff members who intervened, saying they put themselves in danger to shield their students.

Conservation officers say an attack on such a large group is highly unusual and has left the local community shaken. Outdoor activity across the area has slowed dramatically as officers try to locate the sow, described as highly aggressive, and her cubs.

Over the weekend, teams swept a wide stretch of rugged terrain along the valley, but steep rock, dense forest, and early-winter weather made tracking difficult.

“This is one of the most dangerous situations our officers face — especially when a mother bear is involved,” Sgt. Jeff Tyre of the Conservation Officer Service said during a Sunday briefing.

Search teams will continue looking for the animals through the week. Officers hope to capture the bears alive to obtain DNA samples and confirm whether the trio is responsible, but Tyre noted that locating wildlife in such conditions is unpredictable.

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With temperatures dropping, the animals may soon enter hibernation, tightening the timeline for search crews.

Grizzly bears have lived alongside the Nuxalk Nation for generations, and the valley is promoted as a gateway to the Great Bear Rainforest. But residents say the number of grizzlies moving through the region has increased significantly in recent years, throwing off a long-standing balance.

Indigenous leaders, meanwhile, attribute the shift to a mix of human-driven changes — such as logging — and environmental pressures including drought, wildfires, and the decline of natural food sources.

Additionally, homeowners have reported more frequent encounters and break-ins. One Bella Coola couple told CityNews they returned from an outing last month to find their metal-clad front door torn away and their kitchen trashed. Their refrigerator had been dragged outside, a furnace was destroyed and a propane tank recently filled was emptied.

The BC Wildlife Federation, which advocates for hunters, linked the rise in bear-human conflicts to the province’s 2017 ban on grizzly trophy hunting, arguing the prohibition was driven by public pressure rather than scientific evidence. The group said conservation officer calls about grizzlies have doubled since the ban.

That push to revive the hunt is controversial and has divided some within the hunting community.

Critics counter that relying on hunting as a management tool is an outdated approach, pointing instead to Indigenous-led stewardship models. Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of the Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Nuxalk leadership and other First Nations communities have demonstrated more sustainable ways of interacting with wildlife.

“As we see a change in food sources and forest fires, things are fluctuating. Bears are on the move and moving around in different ways. And so we need to think differently than how we have for centuries in this province,” Scapillati told The Guardian.

He added that “First Nations communities have been leaders in this area. And so not only do they need support for us now in this time with this rare attack, but they also need support on the plans they’ve shown us are needed to do what they’ve long known is possible: coexistence with bears.”

Anyone with information about bear sightings in Bella Coola are being asked to call 1-877-952-7277.