Bears killed after breaking into Mission home, biting two people

Two people have been injured by a bear that broke into a home in Mission.

Murray Smith of the provincial Conservation Officer Service says a Mission resident heard a commotion in her backyard late Saturday and went to check on her dogs. He says when she opened the back door, the woman was met by a black bear, which knocked her down, bit her in the back and scratched her.

The woman’s boyfriend came and scared the animal back outside, and the woman was taken to hospital where she was treated for superficial injuries.

Smith says conservation officers later found the female bear and her two 34-kilogram cubs in a tree behind the home, and when an officer approached, the female bear attacked, biting the conservation officer on the leg.

The officer was taken to hospital where she received stitches, and all three of the bears were destroyed.

“The reason that decision was made was because all the residents in the neighbourhood said the bears had been in their yards multiple times in the last few days,” Smith said.

Neighbours reported seeing the bears eat from fruit trees in the area and get into garbage pails, and the behaviour suggests the animals were “human-habituated,” he added.

“Residents in the neighbourhood said the bears had been in their yards multiple times in the last few days.” — Murray Smith