A man and woman luckily escaped serious injury after being attacked by a black bear in the Meadow Lake Provincial Park on the weekend.
Environment officials say the two were camping near Jeanotte Lake when the attack occurred around 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning.
They were admitted to Meadow Lake Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Ministry of Environment conservation officer Rich Hildebrand says what is believed to be the bear in question was tracked and caught later that day.
“Later on that afternoon, our conservation officers did trap a bear, the one that was involved in the attack, and they did put the bear down and have it sent to the University of Saskatchewan for a necropsy (autopsy),” he says.
Hildebrand says bear attacks are rare but they do happen.
“It’s definitely not a normal occurrence and definitely we just want to remind people that bears are wild animals and we need to treat them with respect.”
Officials are reminding park users to take normal precautions while in the park such as not leaving food or garbage around.
(PHOTO: A black bear. Photo courtesy of Canadian Wildlife Federation.)