A Canadian Man Is Dead After Being "Dragged Away" By A Grizzly

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49412385

A Franco-Canadian man died after being attacked by a grizzly bear in a remote area of Canada last week, police announced on Monday.

Julien Gauthier, a 44-year-old musician, was surprised by the animal in his sleep.

He was travelling along the Mackenzie River to record sounds of nature for a musical project.

Unprovoked grizzly bear attacks are usually very rare, conservation officers say.

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On 15 August, at approximately 07:45 local time (13:45 GMT), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was alerted by the launch of a distress beacon in the Tulita area on the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories, a largely isolated area accessible only by sea or air.

Camille Toscani, a biologist who had been travelling with Mr Gauthier and raised the alert, said he had been dragged away by a grizzly bear in the middle of the night.

The RCMP sent a helicopter to the area because of bad weather conditions to look for Mr Gauthier and evacuate the travellers. His body was eventually found the next day, reports say.

The victim, who was a composer and soundman, had planned to canoe down the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence to Inuvik (about 1,500 km, or 930 miles), he said on a crowdfunding platform to explain his project.

He was born and grew up in Canada with his two French parents, but moved to France - where he lived - at the age of 19, reports say.

The Brittany Symphony Orchestra, where Mr Gauthier had been a composer in residence since 2017, paid tribute to him, saying he was "a sensitive, generous and talented man" who had "a sense of adventure, wonder and rare intelligence".

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RCMP officers have confirmed that a Canadian man, identified as composer Julien Gauthier, has died after being attacked by a grizzly bear in a remote area of the Northwest Territories last week. According to an eye-witness, the 44-year-old man was awoken by the bear in the middle of the night and dragged away from his tent into the darkness. The man's body was found by RCMP officers the next day.
Musician and sound-man Julien Gauthier was travelling across the Mackenzie River in the remote Tulita area of the Northwest Territories, in order to record sounds of nature for a musical project he was working on. According to a crowdfunding page prior to his trip, Gauthier had planned to canoe down the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence to Inuvik, recording the sounds of Canada's nature and wildlife on his way.


However, on August 15 at approximately 7:45 AM the RCMP was alerted to the sound of a distress beacon in the Tulita area, from a remote location that was only accessible by sea or air. An RCMP helicopter was sent to the approximate area and evacuated all travellers.
After a day of searching through poor weather conditions, Gauthier’s body was discovered by police officers.
  


According to Camille Toscani, a biologist who had been travelling with Mr Gauthier, he had been dragged away by a grizzly bear in the middle of the night. Paying tribute to her friend, Toscani explained, "He had asked me to take part in this adventure, we had been thinking about it for three years. We were so happy to get to do it.”


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The Brittany Symphony Orchestra, where Gauthier had worked since 2017, also paid tribute to his life, calling him "a sensitive, generous and talented man" who had "a sense of adventure, wonder and rare intelligence."
The tribute continued, "It was his dream to go there, to go to the North."
  

Following reports of a fatality, officials from the territorial Department of Environment and Natural Resources euthanized two bears, including one grizzly. Both bears were found in close proximity to where Gauthier’s body had been discovered.
Spokesperson for the department, Meagan Wohlberg confirmed that this would be the fourth bear-related fatality in the Northwest Territories in the last 20 years.
She explained, “Human-bear encounters in the Northwest Territories are not out of the ordinary, although fatalities are rare."
  

Cathy Menard, the territory's chief coroner, confirmed to CBC News that the man’s body was in Edmonton, awaiting an autopsy.  An official cause of death is expected to be released as early as this week.