Necropsy results on the grizzly bear that attacked and killed 42-year-old Claudia Huber on Oct. 18 at her home outside of Johnson’s Crossing show it was not diseased nor had unusual health conditions, though it was underweight.

Environment Yukon conservation officers revealed results of the necropsy during a public meeting Thursday evening in Teslin.

A portion of the meeting was dedicated to letting the community know the results that are available. Lab results to determine the exact age are still not in.

The gathering had a more general focus on bears and bear safety in light of the attack.

As conservation officer Kirby Meister, who was one of a few Environment Yukon officials at the gathering, said in an interview this morning, the meeting was organized at the request of the Teslin Tlingit Council.

“We thought that was a really good idea,” Meister said. “The community is very, very affected.”

Such a tragedy has a major effect on the community, he said, noting that bear attacks are extremely rare.

“People are essentially going through a healing process,” Meister said.

Providing the results available on the bear helps inform the community and move away from rumours and speculation.

He emphasized Environment Yukon had no previous dealings with this bear. It had never been collared, and its DNA was not on record as it would be if the department had dealt with it.

“We were unfamiliar with this bear,” Meister said.

Though underweight, the bear was not starving, weighing 373 lbs.

In an earlier interview, Environment Yukon officials said a bear its size at a healthy weight would normally weigh between 450 to 500 lbs.

Still, Meister pointed out, it’s not uncommon for some bears to go into the winter season underweight.

“There’s no (serious) health issues with this bear,” he said.

While the age on the male bruin is still outstanding, Environment Yukon officials believe it to be more than 25 years old, an age indicating it was nearing the end of its life.

Some Yukon grizzlies have lived into their mid-30s, but Meister said those cases are rare.

The attack occurred on Huber’s and her husband’s property about five kilometres from Johnson’s Crossing.

The bear came onto their land and entered the home, then pursued the couple who went outside of the house.

It attacked Huber, with her husband eventually shooting the animal and then driving her to the Teslin Medical Centre, where she was pronounced dead about 25 minutes after arriving.

There were about 15 people who turned out for the meeting, on an evening where a number of events were happening in the community, Meister pointed out.

There was a good discussion and numerous questions throughout the evening, many focused on bear safety.

Though extremely rare, bear attacks can have a major impact on the communities where they occur. That was evident last night when one resident said he’d been living in the Yukon in areas where bears frequent for many years and it’s only now he finds himself fearing the animals.

The meeting served as an opportunity to talk about bear behaviour, types of bear attacks, how to deal with bear encounters and how to manage attractants.

As Meister explained, bear attacks can be categorized as provoked and unprovoked attacks.

Provoked attacks occur when a person either deliberately or accidentally comes too close to a bear that is protecting something – its cubs, space or a food source.

Meanwhile, an unprovoked attack is one a bear initiates as a defensive move or as a predator, in cases where it views a person as prey.

Along with looking at ways to manage attractants, a number of residents at the meeting wanted to know more about bear spray, Meister said, pointing to questions that came in about where to buy it, how to use it and how it works.

There were a number of people unfamiliar with it.

“People want that information,” he said.

The session enabled conservation officers and carnivore biologist Ramona Maraj to provide education and answer questions about bears and bear safety, he added.