The November 20th, 2024 Bear Attack Near Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada

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Around 2:30 PM, on November 20th, 2024, a resident of Maple Ridge, whom we will refer to as Paul, was planning to take his dog, Rufus out for one of their routine walk along the nearby nature trails. It isn’t stated whether Paul owned bear spray, let alone ever took it on his routine walks with Rufus, but they were walking on city trails, so how could they anticipate an encounter with a bear?
Paul liked to take Rufus on hikes to the many trail systems that are nearby 240th Street. Toward the south end of the road was a trail system along the Kanaka Creek drainage. The creek starts up toward Alouette Lake and traverses a handful of state parks, forested areas, and recreation land before plunging right through the heart of Maple Ridge.
Kanaka River trail systems follow the riparian zone of the river, which is crowded with dense vegetation that limits visibility. Berry bushes thrive in these areas which act as an added draw to bears, especially hungry ones, and they are all hungry in the fall.
As Rufus and Paul meandered the trail, they were unaware that their path was about to intersect with a bear. Now, one important detail worth mentioning is that after Paul and Rufus got a short distance off the busier part of the trail, Paul let Rufus off-leash. His likely reasoning was a common one, his dog could wander and vent his energy as he investigated scents and curiosities along the trail. But, this also allowed Rufus to exercise a certain amount of independence, to a dangerous degree.
While navigating the trail, Paul was passing through a dense patch of brush when he and Rufus came upon a black bear near the trail. Now if Rufus had been on a leash, Paul could have led the dog away from the bear, but given he was off leash, Rufus began barking and advancing toward the bear.
Recognizing the danger Paul intervened by calling Rufus and trying to get control of the dog. After the bear briefly pursued Rufus, Paul was able to get ahold of the dog's collar and begin leading him away. Unfortunately for Paul, the bear wasn’t satisfied with being rid of the dog and it closed in on Paul.
Now realizing the bear wasn’t finished with the dog or its owner, Paul began to yell as the bear bit and clawed at him. Three fishermen, who were drowning some flies along the river heard the commotion and came running to investigate.
Now facing four men and a dog, the bear could have simply fled back into the foliage, but the irritation of the incident had raised its ire to the point of no return. In an unrelenting attack on Paul, the bear continued slashing Paul with its claws and biting any portion of the man that got within range. The weapons the fishermen chose to defend Paul with were not the best option. They had a filet knife which they used to gut any fish they chose to keep. One of the fishermen bravely worked his way into a position that allowed him to repeatedly stab the stubborn black bear as it would not release its grasp on Paul.
The men eventually subdued the bear and it succumbed to its wounds. Paul was rushed to the hospital for treatment of nonlife-threatening injuries and Rufus was not reportedly injured during the conflict. The fishermen were not injured during the confrontation according to reports.
Following the incident, the attack was investigated by wildlife officers. There was no report of any animal carcasses cached nearby nor were there cubs observed at the location. Speaking of cubs, our cub tier membership on Patreon, linked below will give you ad-free early access to our episodes and the $3 per month goes a long way in helping me continue to produce educational and entertaining content like this.
Although the reason for the attack was attributed to Rufus antagonizing the bear, Paul, and the fishermen were deemed to have acted in self-defense. They were not issued citations for their actions that led to the bear’s death.
While in the hospital Paul was treated for gashes and puncture wounds. His injuries were cleaned and he was released from the hospital soon after, to heal at home.
A necropsy on the bear’s carcass is underway to better understand why it didn’t leave when it had the chance. The carcass will be examined for overall health and condition, as well as the presence of rabies or other diseases that may have contributed to the attack.
British Columbia hosts a black bear population of 120,000 to 150,000 bears. The province covers approximately 374,000 square miles which means there are about 2 to 3 square miles for every black bear which is a very high population density. There are reportedly 5 bear attacks each year in the province with most being caused by surprise encounters on trail systems.