Two men are recovering after they were attacked by a bear. It’s believed it was a grizzly bear.
It happened around 8 o’clock Saturday night northwest of Cochrane in an area commonly referred to as Ghost PLUZ or Ghost Public Land use Zone.
“We heard something,” says Cam Steffen. “ We weren’t sure if it was the cows and then it got louder. We heard it again and it was someone calling for help.”
MJ Stead says, “All of a sudden STARS flew over and several police cars went flying by.”
EMS responded to an area along Highway 940 and hunter Valley where found a man, believed to be in his 50’s, suffering from minor soft tissue injuries. He was assessed on scene and did not require hospitalization.
Prior to the arrival of ground paramedics, STARS Air Ambulance airlifted a second man to Foothills Hospital. His age and the extent of his injuries are not known at this time.
The man treated on scene by EMS told paramedics one was riding an all-terrain vehicles and the other a dirt bike when they came across a bear and cubs.
“The bear did attack them knocking them from their vehicles. They had to deploy bear spray and a short time the bear with the cubs left the area,” says Adam Loria with EMS.
Roxanne Steffen says, “Rangers came an hour later and taped things off and said there is a grizzly bear and her two cubs.”
The area is now closed to the public. It could be closed for at least a week while Alberta Fish and Wildlife investigates whether it was a grizzly bear.
“We are just going to start our investigation of the area to determine just what happened,” says conservation officer Todd Ponich. “We’ll try to determine whether or not the particular bear is in the area.”
An update on the investigation and the health status of the individuals is expected to be available Monday morning.
(With files from Brad MacLeod)
