Woman jogger dragged from tree and mauled to death by grizzly bear

A GRIZZLY bear mauled a woman jogger to death on a popular hiking trail in Canada over the weekend, only eight days after the animal was removed from another residential neighbourhood after threatening people.

Isabelle Dube, 36, a competitive mountain biker originally from Cap-St-Ignace near Quebec City, was running on the trail yesterday afternoon in Canmore, 55 miles west of Calgary in the mountainous western province of Alberta, when the bear attacked.

Two friends with her ran to a nearby golf course for help and were not harmed, said Brad Freer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Ms Dube had climbed a tree her friends said, but by the time rescue workers got there, the grizzly had somehow pulled her out of the tree and mauled her to death.

Fish and wildlife officers later shot and killed the animal. The trail, just outside the small city of Canmore, had been subject to a voluntary closure since April to protect a corridor designed to allow wildlife, including cougars and bears, to move between habitats.

Ms Dube, a substitute French teacher, leaves behind a five-year-old daughter, authorities said. The same 200lb, four-year-old grizzly had been removed from a residential area just over a week ago, said Donna Babchishin, a spokeswoman for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.

The bear was relocated after approaching Canmore resident Niki Davison who was photographing wildflowers. It was tranquillised, fitted with a radio collar and flown by helicopter to an area in Banff National Park.

Ms Davison told CBC TV that the grizzly followed her and her basset hound for 10 minutes, but never attacked.

“I heard something crashing behind me; when I looked up I realised it was a grizzly,” she said.

“When I realised it was a bear, it was kind of like your nightmare come true. I gathered my things and grabbed my dog and just backed up slowly,” she said.

In recent years, environmentalists have fought to set up wildlife corridors on the outskirts of the community of 13,000, where resort golf courses and mountain chalets have expanded into prime wildlife habitat.

“We’ve kept on pushing and pushing and pushing until the wildlife has been squeezed out,” said Nigel Douglas of the Alberta Wilderness Association.

Ms Dube was the first person killed by a bear in Alberta since 1998.