UPDATED: Coquitlam woman attacked by bear while gardening

A Coquitlam woman remains in stable condition in hospital with serious but non life-threatening bites to her head and arms after being attacked by a black bear outside her Westwood Plateau home Wednesday morning.

Katy Yin, who lives in the 1500-block of Bramble Lane, was gardening in her front lawn at about 10 a.m. when a bear approached and mauled her, biting her skull and arms "and a number of other bits all over her body," said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Tony Farahbakhchian.

"She was screaming for help and one of the neighbours heard the commotion and cries and went onto the street and, along with other bystanders, started to throw rocks at the bear in an effort to drive the bear away from the victim," he said.

After two or three minutes, the bear let go of Yin. While police said Yin ran inside her home to call 911, witnesses said they had already called for help and that Yin remained on the front steps of her house where she was comforted by neighbours until an ambulance arrived and drove her to Royal Columbian Hospital.

Neighbour Amy Lo woke from sleep when she heard the woman's screams and watched the bear attack from the window of her second-storey bedroom.

"When I looked out my window, there was a bear on top of her," said Lo, 18.

Another neighbour drove his silver van at the bear to try and scare it off, Lo said. Then people began throwing rocks at the bear. One person tried to beat the bear with a broom stick, she said.

Sabrina Susin, who lives two houses away from Yin, said she emerged from her house after hearing screams, honking and yelling.

"I went over and there was some people who had stopped their cars and were helping her," Susin said. "A young lady was holding bandages to her head."

Susin said she held Yin's hand while two men kept throwing rocks at the lingering bear to keep it at bay. "The bear started coming towards us again and it came really quite close," she said, "within a foot or two."

Yin, who had lived in her house for about six years, was conscious and aware of what was happening, but in shock, said Susin, who noted the whole block is very aware of bears and only puts garbage out on pick-up day.

When police arrived on scene the bear continued its aggressive behaviour towards officers, who shot at it once at the side of the house and at least once more in a neighbour's yard, Farahbakhchian said. Conservation officers arrived later to remove the body.

Three hours after the attack, one green sandal lay on the driveway amidst spatters of blood. The other shoe lay on the steps leading up to the immaculately-kept house, where flowers were strewn about. A trail of blood led up to the front door. Nearby lay a white sock, a gardening glove and a ripped white garment of some kind — all stained with blood.

Around the back of the house, which is up for sale, there were bird feeders and several peanut shells scattered on the patio.

The bear was healthy and weighed about 113 kilograms, said a Ministry of Environment spokesperson Kate Thompson.

The day before (Tuesday) was garbage pick-up day, but there were still a lot of bear attractants in the neighbourhood, Thompson said. She urged residents to keep garbage inside, clean the barbecue, pick fruit from trees as soon as it ripens and store pet food indoors. People in areas frequented by bears should also not have bird feeders.

Bear sightings are up this year due to the long, slow winter and late berry crops. Westwood Plateau residents have reported previous bear sightings in the area, which backs onto a greenbelt.

Drake Stephens, the city's Bear Aware co-ordinator, called the seemingly random attack "unusual" but said he didn't know the whole story.

"This is why we try and reduce the human-bear conflicts by not inviting them into neighbourhoods," he said. "If they do get rewarded in our yards and residential areas they lose their fear of people and this is the worse case scenario, when a bear does something like this."

Scott Masse, general manager of Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club, said a bear was spotted on the fifth and sixth hole at the nine-hole executive course Sunday and Monday.

"He wasn't being aggressive towards people, but in the area and going back and forth between the green and the tee box," Masse said. "Obviously you don't want golfing guests to be going near the bear in that situation."

While the Conservation Officer Service was notified of the bear, there was no response, Masse said.

The bear is the fourth to die locally this season, three just in the past week. On Thursday, police shot a bear that wandered into a home on Turnberry Lane on Westwood Plateau; another was shot earlier this week in the Cedar drive area.

lgerrits@tricitynews.com