Four grizzly bears involved in deadly attack on mother and daughter in B.C.

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says four grizzly bears that it captured in Bella Coola in recent days were all involved in a deadly attack that claimed the lives of a mother and daughter in the community this month.

Insp. Jeff Tyre with the service said DNA tests had conclusively linked the female grizzly and her three yearling cubs to the attack and all had been killed to protect the public.

“Our investigation also found that this attack likely involved predatory behaviour, which I can tell you is very rare,” Tyre told an online briefing.

“That is to say, we don’t know how it started, but we know how it ended.”

The bodies of art therapist Jenny Balcarras and her adult daughter, Selah Reed, were found last week about 150 metres apart after they were reported missing on Nov. 1.

Their remains were found in an area of trails outside the northern B.C. community, where local authorities imposed a voluntary curfew and police had been escorting children to school last week in the wake of the attack.

Tyre said the DNA tests showed the bears were not involved in a 2025 attack on a group of schoolchildren in the same area of Bella Coola, which is about 1,000 kilometres north of Vancouver.

Tlhmtimut Samuel Schooner, elected Chief Councillor of the Nuxalk Nation, said the investigation into the recent attack “was carried out with the utmost care and respect.”

“This attack has been deeply re-triggering for our community members as we continue to recover from last year’s attack,” he told the briefing.

“Our thoughts remain with the victims’ family. We still have community supports in place, and they will remain there until we feel the time is right to remove them. Our community is rightly still deeply affected and will be for generations.”

Tyre said bears involved in fatal attacks on people “cannot be rehabilitated or relocated.”

“This type of behaviour represents an extreme risk to the public, and such bears are dispatched to protect the public and prevent similar attacks in the future.”

The 2025 attack by a grizzly on a group of about 20 elementary school students and teachers last November left an adult and three children badly injured.

Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of the B.C.-based Grizzly Bear Foundation, said in an interview on Tuesday that the tragedy in Bella Coola was an “extremely challenging” situation. 

He  commended the Conservation Officer Service for their investigation, and “helping these rural communities where they clearly need our help in co-existing with the bears.”

“Rural communities co-existing or working to co-exist with grizzly bears in Western North America have great challenges and they need our help,” Scapillati said. Education was necessary, he said, “but we also need community programs that further co-existence and safety.” 

Scapillati said B.C.’s Bear Smart program, which helps educate communities about staying safe and co-existing with bears, is effective.

But “this past year, the B.C. government stopped putting energy into that program and actually paused it,” he said.

He said the timing of the attack was significant.

“Bears are heading toward hibernation. Their behaviour is significantly different at this time of year and communities need to be safe and that’s a critical message for everyone in Western Canada, in western North America right now that lives close to a grizzly bear,” he said. 

“In the fall, it’s a more challenging time to co-exist with them.”

He said the incoming B.C. Conservative provincial government could have a “great opportunity” to do more to help rural communities avoid similar tragedies. 

Schoone said in a statement on Tuesday that the First Nation was thankful to the conservation officer service for finding the bears and bringing some resolution to the community. 

The statement said community members should “take all necessary precautions outdoors, stay close to young children, and ensure our spaces are free of any attractants.” 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2026.