B.C. Hunter Survives Grizzly Mauling, Gunshot Wound
Shot by son-in-law while tangling with bear
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A Canadian man survived both a grizzly bear mauling and gunshot Sunday morning in the Elk Valley, 40 miles from the Montana border.
CBC News reports that Wilf Lloyd, a 56-year-old taxidermist from Cranbrook, British Columbia, had been hunting elk with son-in-law Skeet Podrasky when the pair stumbled upon the bear just south of Fernie, B.C. Lloyd suffered leg injuries during the mauling and additional injuries at the hands of Podrasky, who accidentally shot Lloyd before fatally shooting the bear.
As reported by CTV News, Lloyd was airlifted in critical condition to Calgary’s Foothills Hospital. He is still recovering and awaiting decision about a leg amputation, according to Global News.
“This is a somewhat remote area, and there’s no history with this bear,” conservation officer Sergeant Cam Schley of Cranbrook told Global News. Grizzly attacks are rare to begin with in North America, though National Geographic reports that black bear attacks are on the rise because humans are moving into black bear habitats, while mountain droughts force bears into urban areas.
Despite being regular hunters in Calgary’s backwoods, it is unknown whether Lloyd or Podrasky were carrying bear spray at the time of the incident.