A bear that swatted a woman jogger last Saturday remains free and the trap has been removed from the upper Coquitlam Crunch trail.
The BC Conservation Officer Service made the announcement in a Tweet Thursday, Sept. 3 days after the trap was set to catch the bear that had touched the woman.
UPDATE | CO's removed the bear trap at the #Coquitlam Crunch trail this morning. The bear was not captured & the trail remains closed. In July, CO's removed a bear trap after several days following an incident where a child was bitten by a bear. For more: https://t.co/of4cKWQvXZ pic.twitter.com/l2kcYFU2c3
— BC CO Service (@_BCCOS) September 3, 2020
The man who recorded the incident on his phone while also stepping forward to distract the bear is pleased the trap has been removed.
Sam Abdullah had pleaded with BCCOS to save the bear because it wasn’t being aggressive and was not the same bear that had been causing problems in the area.
“Bear is saved,” Abdullah told the Tri-City News via text, and crediting media reports for raising awareness of the issue.
Abdullah’s video went viral and his pleas for the bear resulted in an online petition with over 4,000 signatures.
Although the trap is removed, the upper Coquitlam Crunch trail, above Panorama Drive in Coquitlam, remains closed according to BCCOS.
