Darren Campbell
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 25/02) - Quebec coroner Yvan Turmel has criticized Yellowknife biathlete Mary Beth Miller, killed in a highly-publicized black bear attack, for displaying a lack of caution.

Miller, 23, was killed in July 2000 when a black bear attacked her while she was on a training run alone at the Myriam Bedard Training Centre located on the Valcartier military base northwest of Quebec City.

"Ms. Miller lived in Yellowknife, she was accustomed to meeting up with bears often while doing jogging around home. In living in close contact with wild animals, she had become less cautious, downplaying the ever-present danger this type of animal presents," Turmel writes in the report released Tuesday.

The report also states there were many bear sightings that summer and a head trainer at the centre warned the athletes to be more careful.

The six-page report calls on managers of the military base and training centre to draw up a plan for managing and controlling the black bear population, to have formal guidelines for training in the forest during warm weather months and have every athlete wear a bear deterrent flask.

Miller, a nationally-ranked biathlete, moved to Valcartier in June 2000 to train for the upcoming season. On July 2, she was attacked by a black bear that came out of the forest, grabbed her by her right hip and after a struggle struck her spine and crushed the back of her neck.

Turmel's report also states a female black bear found a few days later that was thought to be the animal that killed Miller, was not the attacking bear.

Gilles Lamontagne, a biologist and bear expert with the Quebec Wildlife and Parks Society said they believe Miller was attacked by a male black bear weighing approximately 200 pounds.

So, is it possible that bear is still in the area and could attack someone else? Lamontagne said it is possible but unlikely.

"We have tried with a number cages and devices to provoke him and catch him," said Lamontagne. "But we've never seen a trace of him again."

According to Lamontagne, some recommendations in Turmel's report have already been carried out. He said his office has been working with CFB Valcartier since the attack to try to manage the bear population.