Regina couple killed in bear attack at McTavish Lake

Family members are mourning the loss of Regina residents Jay and Deb MacDonald, saying the couple died in a bear attack at McTavish Lake on Wednesday.

Deb MacDonald’s brother, Donjames LeBlanc, said he had visited with Deb at his home just before the couple left for a trip to the cabin.

“They were going to go up and do a little fishing and so on,” LeBlanc said.

The couple flew into McTavish Lake to stay at their cabin, which they also leased out, he said. 

“They didn’t respond to calls that we forwarded to them, so [the family] contacted the police.”

The couple had previously talked about the numerous black bears in the area, he said. 

McTavish Lake is a fly-in lake approximately 90 kilometres north of La Ronge as the crow flies.

“They found Jay lying by the lakeshore dead. And they couldn’t find Debbie so they put off the search for that day,” LeBlanc said, adding that her body was found the next day in woods near the cabin.

“I don’t know what happened exactly,” LeBlanc said. He said the family is waiting for the authorities investigating the case to piece together details of the incident.

The couple were retired and in their early 70s. Deb had worked as a nurse and Jay worked in the farm equipment industry, LeBlanc said. She was one of 11 siblings.

A mass for the couple was held at Christ the King Church in Regina on Thursday.

The Ministry of Community Safety confirmed in a news release on Friday that a bear was involved in the deaths.

Conservation officers sent to the scene located and euthanized a bear suspected to be involved in the incident. It’s being transported to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, where a necropsy will be conducted, the release said.

The ministry is warning “residents, cabin owners, visitors and outdoor recreation users to exercise caution when outdoors and avoid wildlife encounters,” it said.

The Saskatchewan RCMP were involved in the initial investigation but have since stepped away as no criminal element was found. The Saskatchewan Coroner’s Service and Saskatchewan Conservation Officer Service continue to investigate.

Fatal bear attacks in the province have been considered rare.

However, there was a fatal incident earlier this year. In May, a 27-year-old man was killed in a bear attack at a remote uranium exploration site in northern Saskatchewan. 

That was the fourth known fatality resulting from a bear encounter in the province’s history.

In 2020, 44-year-old Stephanie Blais was killed near her family’s cabin north of Buffalo Narrows.

The first known bear mauling deaths in the province happened when two men were killed in separate incidents in 1983 near Nipawin Provincial Park, which is now called Narrow Hills Provincial Park.

The increase in aggressive bear behaviour is concerning to some experts.

“Saskatchewan has to have a conversation about offensive aggression by black bears in the province,” said Doug Clark, a bear expert at the University of Saskatchewan.

“It’s typically predatory, and it does result in human fatalities and severe injuries.”

Clark says offensive aggression is when bears attack people to eat them or for other reasons unrelated to defending themselves or their cubs.

He said the aggression is most likely food-motivated, but without more information, he can’t be sure.

“This, from the limited information that we have, does sound to me like it was the result of offensive aggression by a bear. And that requires a different set of responses by people than the typical bear-safety conflict prevention advice that’s typically given,” Clark said.

Researching wildlife activity in the area and packing bear spray are the best ways to stay safe, Clark said.