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A mother and her adult daughter who died near a remote community in western Canada were killed by four grizzly bears in what investigators believe was a rare predatory attack, wildlife officials said Tuesday.
The victims were Jenny Balcarras, 48, and her 20-year-old daughter, Selah Reed. DNA tests conclusively linked a female grizzly and her three yearling cubs to the deaths, the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service said. All four bears were killed to protect the public, officials said.
“Our investigation also found that this attack likely involved predatory behavior, which I can tell you is very rare,” Inspector Jeff Tyre told an online briefing.
“That is to say, we don’t know how it started, but we know how it ended.”
The women's remains were discovered about 150 meters (490 feet) apart near a trail outside Bella Coola, a community about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) north of Vancouver. Family members raised the alarm after Reed missed a routine Saturday night call with her sister. Searchers found her mother's remains first, then located Reed's remains in a bear cache, where bears store food.
Tyre said the bears were not involved in a separate grizzly attack last November on a group of about 20…
