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Girl recovering after bear attack

Saturday's incident resulted in teeth wounds to her chest, and a puncture to her lung
Bear mauling
A BC Conservation Officer prepares to take a bear cub to Critter Care in Langley, after the mother bear was shot for attacking a 10-year-old girl. The girl is recovering at Children's Hospital and is in "good spirits."

The girl who was attacked by a bear on Saturday after a family swim in the Coquitlam River is recovering well in BC Children's Hospital and is in good spirits after her ordeal.

Insp. Murray Smith said he has spoken to the family and while he is not revealing their names or providing more personal details to allow them some "private space," he says they are doing well despite the ordeal.

Still, many questions need to be answered as to how and why the incident occurred on a well-used trail system that runs between Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam next to Shaughnessy Street.

At about 5:30 p.m. Saturday, the 10-year-old girl and her father were walking to the parking lot on the Coquitlam side of the trail after a swim in the river when they encountered a mother bear.

Insp. Smith said the girl stopped and then ran, at which point the bear attacked by knocking her down and biting her on the chest.

"At that point, it broke her ribs and punctured her lungs so it was a pretty traumatic impact at that point."

The father, who was carrying a boogie board, hit the bear on the head and it ran away, leaving the family time to get to their car and drive to Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Moody.

The girl was later transferred to Children's Hospital, where she had surgery and stitches to close up the wound, Insp. Smith said.

"She's very lucky. the rest of the injuries are fairly minimal and she seems in good spirits."

When B.C. Conservation officers arrived on the scene at approximately 6:30 p.m., the female bear was still in the area so it was killed but the cub was captured and taken to Critter Care Wildlife Society in Langley, where it will spend the winter.

Smith said the cub was not seen as a conflict risk while the female bear had to be destroyed because it wouldn't leave and had attacked someone.

"To ensure public safety, we decided that this was the best result," he said.

He said the bear may have been startled to see the man and his daughter because the sound of water drowned out their approach.

"Bears have a choice of fleeing or defending," he said. "In this case, the bear chose to defend the situation."