70-Year Old Canadian Woman Attacked And Killed By Black Bear

70-year old Cecile Lavoie and husband Alexandre were on a fishing trip in a remote area of Quebec Province about 600 kilometers northwest of Ottawa, when Lavoie was attacked and killed. According to the Globe and Mail, the husband and wife split up or got separated for a short period of time.

As she scouted a fishing hole for walleye, Ms. Lavoie became separated from her husband. Barely 10 minutes later, Mr. Lavoie felt something was amiss and went searching for his wife of 51 years. Metres away he came upon the nightmarish scene of her body being dragged into the forest by a bear.

The bear was aggressive and only momentarily was scared away. 73-year old husband Alexandre tried to get his wife’s body out of the woods but couldn’t do it alone. He went for help and when Lavoie returned with police, the bear was back.

The Lavoies were described as being experienced and prepared for such outings.

According to her family, the attack on Ms. Lavoie happened so quickly she didn’t even have time to scream, let alone reach for the bear spray she carried with her. As accomplished hunters and campers who were born and raised in northern Canada, the Lavoies were well-versed in the recommended tools for avoiding and dealing with bear attacks.

Our deepest sympathies go out to the Lavoie family and the unbelievable experience that Mr. Lavoie had to endure through this. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

As an aside – as is typical in news stories like this, the usual point is made as follows from the article.

According to the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and Fauna website, black bears are the species most commonly found in Quebec. This species rarely attacks humans and only four people have been killed by black bears in that province over the past 25 years.

“Only four people have been killed by black bears in that province over the past 25 years.” Isn’t that reason enough to change that same old talking point about bears so as to better educate people that bears do attack people and do so for unexplained reasons? Even though it sounds as though the Lavoies were experienced and were at least prepared to some degree, can we assume that changing this statement might prompt people to take a bit more serious the need to be prepared when heading into bear country?

Tom Remington