Officers believe sow with cubs was involved in B.C. bear attack on students, teachers

Conservation officers in British Columbia say they believe a mother bear with two cubs was likely involved in an attack on a group of elementary school students and their teachers Thursday, and they continue to search for the animal in the area near the community.

“Speaking from experience, this is probably the most dangerous thing that conservation officers do, especially dealing with family units with sows,” Sgt. Jeff Tyre with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service told a news conference in Bella Coola on Saturday afternoon.

An RCMP plane with thermal imaging capability is being used to help with the search, which Tyre said has been continuing in rainy and slippery conditions.

The attack left three pupils and a teacher with major injuries. Health officials did not have an update on their condition.

Chief Samuel Schooner from the Nuxalk Nation told the news conference that there has been some improvement in the conditions of the victims, but noted their journey towards physical and mental recovery will be long.

Schooner asked media to let the victims tell their own stories in their own time, but noted he’s been hearing stories of heroism, including a tale about one child who was there.

“You know how most people are running away from a fire, and this one turned around and went right back into the fire. And at that age, that simple heroic behaviour to save her classmates. To hear stories like that are so inspiring,” Schooner said, saying the story would get told when the person was ready.

About 20 students and school staff were on a field trip and having lunch at the time of the attack.

Schooner told an earlier news conference Friday that the teachers who scared away the bear were heroes who “chose to lay their lives on the line” for the pupils.

A statement from the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said the investigation, including witness accounts, has found that additional bears were seen in Bella Coola at the time of the attack. 

The statement said efforts to capture and assess all three bears in the area, roughly 700 kilometres northwest of Vancouver, are ongoing and the investigation includes collecting “any forensic evidence that can be used to identify bears involved.”

Tyre said no bears have been trapped so far, and he stressed that it’s important for people to stay out of the woods to prevent the bear from being scared away from the area.

He said that any decision on whether to euthanize the bear if it is caught will be made in consultation with veterinarians and other professionals.

Schooner said that as a kid, he spent hours and hours playing in the woods without a similar tragedy, noting there’s grizzlies, black bears, cougars and wolverines in the area.

“For thousands of years we’ve had relationships — positive relationships. We’ve lived side-by-side in harmony,” Schooner said Saturday.

“There’s some bad people out there. Every once in a while you get a bad bear.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2025.