Wrong bear killed by RCMP after girl attacked in Maple Ridge, B.C.

Wrong bear killed by RCMP after girl attacked in Maple Ridge, B.C.

Officials say the search for the correct bear continues

Officials say they are still searching for the black bear that attacked a three-year-old girl in Maple Ridge, B.C., on Sunday, after confirming a bear RCMP killed wasn't the one that did it.

The B.C. Conservation Officer Service said the young girl was playing on the deck in her family's back yard when the attack happened. One of her parents intervened and chased the animal away.

Maple Ridge RCMP said what they believed was the bear returned to the area several times that day while police were on site and officers shot it "to protect public safety" after it showed signs of aggression.

Police said it fled into a wooded area after it was hit.

The bear was recovered and a necropsy was performed on it, according to the Ministry of Environment and Parks, which showed it hadn't been the bear responsible for the attack.

3-year-old girl hospitalized after Maple Ridge, B.C., bear attack

The girl was taken to hospital with non-life-altering injuries, according to RCMP.

A B.C. Conservation Officer Service predator attack team is still on site and the public is asked to avoid the area.

RCMP 'aren't bear experts,' says vet

Wildlife veterinarian Ken Macquisten said he wasn't surprised to hear the wrong bear was killed.

"The RCMP definitely aren't bear experts," he said.

He said police officers aren't trained in bear behaviour like conservation officers are, and that the caliber of bullets they use generally won't kill a bear on first shot.

"They are more likely to injure the bear than to kill it," he said. "That presents a real problem in itself because an injured bear, of course, is a more dangerous bear than a bear that's not injured."

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Lesley Fox, executive director of wildlife conservation group The Fur-Bearers, said while urgency matters in these kinds of situations, so does identification.

"We really need to make good decisions under pressure and having proper evidence, following a scientific method and ensuring that we are dealing with the specific individual animal."

Fox said police are not equipped to tranquilize wild animals, or contain them, long enough for conservation officers to arrive.

Both Macquisten and Fox said more conservation officers are needed so they can be the ones to respond to wildlife calls.

RCMP say decision not 'taken lightly'

Maple Ridge RCMP said in a statement that officers believed they had the correct bear and "made the decision to dispatch the animal to prevent further injury or loss of life."

"The loss of any wildlife is significant, and decisions of this nature are never taken lightly," the statement reads.

"Thankfully encounters with bears are not a routine experience for our officers, however, are more common during seasonal bear activity when working in partnership with our [Conservation Officer Service] partners."

The department said it always reviews incidents to determine if there is other training or equipment that could be used to better serve officers and the public.

The Conservation Officer Service said in a statement that predator attacks are the highest priority calls and that it works collaboratively with law enforcement partners across the province.

Michelle Morton is a multi-platform journalist with CBC Vancouver. You can contact her at michelle.morton@cbc.ca.