Mother and Daughter Die After Suspected Grizzly Bear Attack in British Columbia

A mother and daughter have died after a suspected grizzly bear attack in the Canadian province of British Columbia, their family has announced, in what would be the latest in a series of bear incidents in the region in recent years.

Jennifer Balcarras, 48, and her 20-year-old daughter Selah Reed were reported missing on 1 November when they did not come back from what was meant to be a brief afternoon walk, relatives said. Their remains were later found in a trail area in Bella Coola, according to the BC Conservation Officer Service, which said evidence at the scene "suggested an animal may have been involved."

Search efforts by conservation officers and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police located Balcarras' remains on Monday and Reed's remains on Tuesday. Officers are now working to track down any bears involved in the deaths.

Jeff Tyre, an inspector with the conservation service, said it was not yet clear whether more than one bear may have been involved. He said any captured bear would be assessed, and if it is found to have taken part in the attack, "it will be dispatched in accordance with provincial human-wildlife conflict response guidelines to protect public safety."

Josh Balcarras, Jennifer's brother, told CBC the two women were "two peas in a pod" who "got along really, really well" and shared many hobbies. "When Jenny hiked, Selah was right there beside her," he said.

According to an online fundraiser created to help the family with funeral costs, Balcarras had recently moved to Bella Coola to pursue a new career and begin a new chapter in her life.

Grizzly bears are listed as a species of "special concern" under federal legislation and are considered an important part of the British Columbia landscape, according to Environmental Reporting BC. The province's Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, which has classified the animals as vulnerable, estimates that between 10,000 and 13,000 grizzly bears live in the province. The ministry says conflicts between bears and humans are "relatively rare" unless the animals are startled or protecting their cubs and food.

Even so, British Columbia has seen a number of attacks in recent years. In October 2025, a grizzly bear injured two hikers in the McGregor Mountain area, one of whom later died from critical injuries; the bear was subsequently found dead. The following month, a bear attacked a school group, also in the Bella Coola area, injuring 11 people.

The BC Wildlife Federation has said reports of conflicts between grizzlies and humans have risen since the province introduced a ban on hunting grizzly bears for sport in 2017. "With no hunting pressure, grizzlies and humans will increasingly occupy the same spaces with inevitable consequences," the federation's executive director, Jesse Zeman, said at the time.