A grizzly bear attack was reported Thursday in the small, remote community of Bella Coola along the central coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia, according to regional and local officials.
The British Columbia Conservation Bureau Service, which was deployed to the scene along with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said “initial information suggests that several people may have been injured.”
Acwsalcta School, an independent school in Bella Coola run by the Nuxalk Nation, said it will be closed on Friday due to the “bear incident”, adding that “it is difficult to know what to say during this very difficult time”.
A grizzly bear attack was reported Thursday in the small, remote community of Bella Coola along the central coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia.
NPS/Jim Peaco
It is unclear if any students were injured.
Nuxalk Nation said the animal “has not yet been found” after warning of an “aggressive bear” in the Four Mile subdivision, a wooded and residential area in the Bella Coola Valley where the Acwsalcta school is located.
Authorities also urged people in the area to stay home, warning them not to look for the bear and “not to follow any trails.”
ABC News has reached out to regional and local officials for more information.
British Columbia is home to approximately 15,000 grizzly bears, representing more than half of the total grizzly bear population in Canada, according to a 2012 assessment and status report by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
