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A school in Bella Coola, B.C., has reopened with safety measures, five days after a grizzly bear attack on a group of students and teachers.
The search continued for the mother grizzly with two cubs thought to be involved in the attack, and the Acwsalcta School said in a statement on Monday that it was taking “additional steps and precautions” to ensure safety for all the students as it welcomes their return.
Students of the independent school run by the Nuxalk First Nation were not being allowed to leave the grounds, and the bus was doing door-to-door service in the wake of the attack on a group of about 20 people last Thursday that badly injured three pupils and a staff member.
“We also wanted to note that we completely understand if students and families are not feeling ready for their children to come to school at this time,” principal Brittany Hughes said in a letter to families that the school also shared on social media.
Three students and one teacher were hospitalized Thursday when a bear attacked a group of about 20 people in Bella Coola — a community about 420 kilometres northwest of Vancouver. Bella Coola Valley resident Tanyss Munro says she and other residents are fearful because of the dangers grizzly bears pose.
It said students should not be walking from 4 Mile, the area near the bear attack, and that they would be allowed to “play in a safe way” in the fenced areas on the school property.
Secondary students would not be allowed to walk to the store at lunch, it says.
Two bears were captured on Monday in Bella Coola, a community about 420 kilometres northwest of Vancouver as the crow flies, and the B.C. Environment Ministry said DNA tests may be conducted on one of them to determine if it was involved in the attack.
There was no conclusive evidence the other bear was involved, so it was being relocated, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said.
The bear attack in Bella Coola on Thursday is renewing conversations around B.C.’s grizzly hunt ban. As Johna Baylon reports, the B.C. Wildlife Federation is calling on the government to consider lifting that as the search for the bears continues.
The attack has set off requests for the B.C. government to bring back the hunt for grizzlies, however Environment Minister Tamara Davidson said the hunt had never been used as a population management tool.
“When the hunt was open, bears were not typically hunted in the same areas where conflicts were occurring,” she told the legislature on Tuesday.
Davidson said right now the focus is on keeping the community safe.
“And any time there’s a conflict with a bear, it’s a reminder that we share the outdoors with these wild animals.”
The B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) said in a statement that the incident highlighted the role conservation officers play to keep the community safe and the “dangerous work environment they face.”
Sebastian Kallos, vice-president of Component 20 of the BCGEU, said that they are “deeply disturbed” by the attack, and their thoughts are with the victims and their families.
Kallos said officers are working to locate and safely trap the bears involved and collect forensic evidence at the site of the attack to better understand what happened.
“As first responders, they risk their lives managing wildlife populations, responding to threats, and educating the public to keep B.C. safe,” read the statement.
