'She was chewed up pretty bad': Grizzly bear attacks woman near Calgary

• READ THE LATEST IN THIS STORY:Bear won't be put down in Alberta grizzly attack

A grizzly bear attacked a young woman northwest of Calgary Tuesday morning, according to paramedics and witnesses.

"We were bringing some hay up and we looked into the valley and we saw someone jump in the river and a bear chewing on someone else," said Coleman Blair, a ranch hand at the Lazy H Trail Company and Trapper's Hill Campground, where police and paramedics responded to the injured woman.

Blair ran down a large embankment towards the scene. The bear had moved away to the other side of the river by the timehe reached JamesHayworthand his wife, Laura.

"When I got there, she was chewed up pretty bad, and he was, I think, shook up as well," said Blair.

• Great Divide Trail to relocate to keep hikers away from coal blasting site
• Unpaid Parks Canada staff getting so desperate they're borrowing money from parents

Grizzly bear attacks woman near Waiparous

8 years ago

Duration 0:35

The man who helped rescue a woman and her boyfriend from a mother grizzly today said the couple probably just surprised her.

STARS Air Ambulance said a 25-year-old female patient was transported from the MD of Bighorn to Foothills Hospital in Calgary in stable condition.

JamesHayworth later told CBC News that Laurahasa broken arm andmultiple puncture wounds, while he has scrapes, cuts and bruises, including a paw print on the back of his hamstring from where the bear stood on top of him.

• 'I'm going to get killed here': Man recounts grizzly attack near Calgary

"About 99 per cent of the time I have a rifle on me, today for some reason I didn't bring it with me," said Blair.

"You know, you see people getting chewed on, you can't really stand around."

The bear was a female grizzly with two cubs, but the cause of the attack is not known at this time.

Ron Wiebe, an inspector with the Fish and Wildlife Enforcement branch, said from what he understands, the victim and a man were having a picnic by the river when the incident occurred.

He said bear attacks "aren't that rare" in the area.

"We've had, in the last number of years in this area, we've probably had close to half a dozen in this immediate area, we've had people bitten and people bluff charged and some people chewed on a little more serious than others," said Wiebe.

He saidhis officers have taken some clothingto obtain DNA samples in case they need to determine the specific bear involved in the attack and what to do with it.

"In the case of a female and cubs we're always a little cautious," he said."We don't want to be running in and taking a bear out of this ecosystem if it's essential here."

Wiebe said the area will be closed for a "significant amount of time."

Waiparous Village is about 70 kilometres northwest of Calgary.

• Conservationists question ethics of Alberta's 'bloodbath' caribou plan
• How to avoid being attacked by a bear