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Attacked by bear at home

An unusual attack occurred in Coquitlam early Sunday morning, involving a black bear and a man in his own home. 

The resident entered his garage to work on his car shortly after midnight, only to discover he wasn't alone. 

"It was a surprise encounter for both of them,” said conservation officer Nicole Caithness. “It happened so quickly that he didn’t really have much of a chance to react and the bear charged him. He tried to scare it away a couple of times before he was finally successful in getting him out of his garage.”

The man sustained bruises to his ribs and side. Officials were worried the bear had become acclimatized to the area, and comfortable in the urban neighbourhood. 

"It is totally not afraid of people whatsoever," said neighbour Kristi Endres, who says the bear has been a problem on the block for over a year. 

Caithness confirmed that nearly a dozen calls were made over the summer about bear encounters within half a kilometre of this incident.

"It’s just getting to the point where someone is really going to get severely mauled. I'm glad the neighbour is alright, but you never know what could happen. It could be a kid [that gets hurt],” the officer said Sunday.

-With files from CTV Vancouver



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