A Salmon Arm woman injured by a black bear while out jogging has no hard feelings towards her attacker.
The woman was very lucky to have received only minor injuries in what was a surprise encounter for both her and the bear, said Conservation Officer Mike Richardson about the Nov. 21 incident that occurred around 11 a.m. on a private property near 50th Avenue SW.
鈥淯nfortunately, this woman was running, she had her headphones on so she wasn鈥檛 really paying attention and didn鈥檛 obviously see the bear, and the bear didn鈥檛 see her until the last minute and, at that close proximity, the bear just kind of lashed out,鈥� said Richardson, explaining the startled bear was reacting defensively when it pushed the woman down from her chest area and proceeded to bite her on the head. Richardson said the bear then realized what it was doing, released the woman and ran off.
The woman was taken to hospital after the attack and released the same day. Richardson said she was glad the Conservation Officer Service has no plans to take action against the bear.
鈥淥ur investigation is leading us to believe this was a one-time thing, so we鈥檙e not taking any further action on this bear 鈥� so it will not be pursued and destroyed,鈥� said Richardson. 鈥淲e feel the threat to the public is very low because of where it is 鈥� it鈥檚 on a rural private property. We did post bear aware signs in the area just in case anybody is back there, and other neighbours close by were also canvassed.
鈥淲hen we did talk to her, she did state she was glad that we were not taking any action on the bear. She felt that it was just a surprise encounter鈥� so she means no harm to the bear and she was very happy that we were not going to destroy it.鈥�
Richardson called the incident a rare occurrence, noting black bears tend to leave an area when they hear humans nearby. This is why he and the Conservation Officer Service recommend making noise when you鈥檙e out enjoying the woods/backcountry.
鈥淎lways make noise because most times bears, they hear us and they don鈥檛 want anything to do with us so they will disappear鈥�,鈥� said Richardson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 good to travel in groups as well because more people make more noise. And I also recommend to people to carry bear spray as well, just in case they might need it because it works well on bears.鈥�
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