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The B.C. Conservation Officer Service (BCCOS) has apologized for causing confusion, saying investigations have revealed the RCMP killed a bear that attacked a three-year-old girl in Maple Ridge earlier this month.
On Aug. 9, the BCCOS said the girl was playing on the deck in her family’s backyard when a black bear attacked her. One of her parents chased the bear away.
Maple Ridge RCMP later said the bear had returned to the area several times while officers were there, and officers shot it.
Two days later, the BCCOS said a necropsy was performed on the bear, and it was not the one responsible for the attack.
But on Friday, in a video statement posted to social media, BCCOS Sgt. Jeremy Pauls said the service has determined that the bear involved in the attack was killed.
“Following further investigation — including a reassessment of the evidence, additional evidence gathering and DNA analysis — we can now confirm the bear dispatched was in fact the bear responsible for the attack,” Pauls said.
“No other bears were dispatched in connection to this incident.”
Pauls apologized for the confusion caused by the BCCOS’s earlier assessment, and said conservation officers were grateful to RCMP who responded quickly “to protect public safety.”
He added that the victim — whom RCMP had said suffered non-life-altering injuries in the attack — continues to recover.
In a statement to CBC News after the initial BCCOS assessment that stated the wrong bear was killed, Maple Ridge RCMP said it always reviews incidents to determine if there is other training or equipment that could be used to better serve officers and the public.
