Bear killed after attacking man walking with dog on Metro Vancouver trail

A man walking his dog on a Lower Mainland trail was injured earlier this week in a black bear attack, the B.C. Conservation Officer Service says. 

The incident occurred Wednesday afternoon along an off-leash dog trail near 240th Street in Maple Ridge, according to a Saturday Facebook post by the service. 

Conservation officer Jordan Ferguson told CBC News the man heard a commotion behind him and turned to see his dog confronting the bear. 

"He tried to grab his dog and retreat from the area, and the bear then turned his attention on him," Ferguson said.

The man then "fought with the bear," according to the service's Facebook post. A group of nearby anglers came to his aid and the incident ended with the man injured and the black bear dead. 

How exactly the bear was killed is still being determined, but Ferguson said an examination of the scene has shown them that it was done out of self-defence and that there will be no enforcement action against anyone involved. 

He said the man was treated for minor injuries and has since been released from hospital, while the dog was unscathed.

The bear is undergoing a necropsy at an Abbotsford lab to determine if it was dealing with anything that would have affected its behaviour and decision to attack. 

Ferguson emphasized the importance of safety precautions while exploring the outdoors, pointing out that bears in the Lower Mainland don't "fully hibernate" due to mild winters and food availability.

"When you're going out into these natural areas, you have to be prepared to run into bears all times a year down here," he said. 

"If you're put in the situation, the best thing you can do is try to leave the area ... make yourself look big and back out."

The B.C. Conservation Foundation says people can better prevent encounters with black bears by talking and singing to avoid surprising an animal, managing attractants such as garbage, keeping pets leashed and carrying bear spray.

According to the the foundation, black bears account for up to 25,000 calls to provincial conservation officers every year and "can become more assertive or destructive when they have learned to associate humans and their activities with food."

B.C. has among the highest population of black bears in the world, with the foundation estimating up to 150,000 animals live in the province.