A month after a grizzly bear mauled 42-year-old Claudia Huber just outside of her home in Teslin, Yukon, biologists are still trying to understand what caused the bear to attack.
Biologists believe that the grizzly was hungry, but not ill, when it entered Huber’s home through a window on October 19. The autopsy noted that the male bear was more than 25-years-old, slimmer than average, and had been exposed to human food. Previous reports also stated that Huber’s home did not have any attractants, like an open garage or a barbecue on the deck, which could have lured the bear.
“He had fat on him, but he had less fat than is normal for this time of year,” Ramona Maraj, a carnivore biologist with Environment Yukon, told the CBC.
“Disease testing showed there were really no health issues. Basically, the bear was an older bear, and everything we found was in accordance with it being an older bear,” Maraj continued.
The day of the attack, Huber was at home with her husband, Matthias Liniger when the bear broke into their house through a window. The bear pursued the couple, fatally attacking Huber outside the house. Liniger shot and killed the bear on-site.
Even though fatal bear attacks are rare in the area, it shocked the small community of Teslin. At a community meeting last week, local resident Sandy Smarch, who is a hunter, trapper, and member of the Teslin Tlinglit Council, said locals are still shaken up.
“People are freaked out about bears right now,” Smarch said. “I spoke with some ladies who are afraid to go to their garage.”
