Canadian officials are investigating a horrific standoff that led to a man shooting a charging grizzly bear in his front yard.
Shocking footage shows Lawrence Michalchuk encountering the mother bear and her three cubs after the group wandered onto his Bella Coola, British Columbia, property.
He had just returned home with his wife after visiting in-laws in the city, according to the video’s caption.
Michalchuk fired two warning shots at the huge beast in an effort to get the animals to flee.
‘It’s basically just to shoot in the air to make noise to scare them away,’ he told CTV on Tuesday.
They fled but the man then went outside and yelled at the mother grizzly in an effort to ‘keep her moving.’
‘As soon as I did that she just put her ears down and head back and came [at me] full blast,’ he said.
The bear can be seen charging at the man and Michalchuk’s wife can be heard screaming while filming.
The man shoots the bear in the right front leg and sends it stumbling all over itself. The time of the fall gives Michalchuk just enough time to get out of the way.
‘Thank God it worked because it tripped her,’ Michalchuk added. ‘All I wanted to do is trip her. I dove in the door as quick as I could and I slammed the door and then she turned back towards her cubs.’
Bear tourism is on the rise in Bella Coola, according to Michalchuk, who added that the bears have become more comfortable with humans.
Conservation officers allegedly told him that he was justified in shooting the grizzily.
‘That bear was not gonna leave,’ he said. ‘It probably worked out good because the bear’s alive and I’m alive.’
Michalchuk said that he tracked the bear and didn’t find any evidence of injury.
The B.C. Conservation Officer Service is investigating the incident.
WARNING: Video contains content that could be upsetting to viewers.
