The RCMP and Yukon conservation officers took far too long to respond to last week's fatal bear mauling, says a local mineral exploration manager.

Bill Mann of Klondike Star Mineral Corp. said in an interview Thursday he can accept that once notified, authorities might need half an hour or 45 minutes to gather the appropriate safety and medical personnel, and secure the necessary equipment, including firearms.

But it is unacceptable to take 2 1/2 hours to get off the ground by helicopter, after learning of a man who could be in serious trouble and in extreme need of medical assistance, said Mann.

Klondike Star hired Aurora Geosciences Ltd. of Whitehorse, the company Jean-Francois Page was employed by, to do the staking work.

Mann and scores of others attended a memorial Thursday for the 28-year-old Page. He was fatally mauled by a sow grizzly last Friday while staking a mineral claim some 30 kilometres east of Ross River.

Evidence indicates Page had unknowingly walked to within five metres of the sow's den, where she was caring for two three-month-old cubs.

'I am concerned that there was a 2 1/2-hour gap between the time when the RCMP were notified and when the helicopter left, because at that time they had no idea if he was holed up in a tree injured, or something like that.'

Mann acknowledged that in this case, evidence indicates Page died very quickly.

It could have very well been a case, however, where the bear had simply immobilized the claim staker with serious injuries, and that he was still alive in need of emergency treatment, Mann said.

He emphasized nobody knew at the point when the RCMP were notified.

RCMP Sgt. Guy Rook of the Yukon's M Division said today the response to the matter is still being looked at.

In each and every case of a search and rescue mission, there is a debriefing to determine where improvements can be made.

He said in this case, there was information of a possible bear attack, and the need to put in place the necessary response not only in a timely, but safe manner.

The response into last Friday's emergency is still being reviewed, he said. He was uncertain if and when the findings would be released, given the matter is still subject to the authority of the Yukon's coroner and a decision regarding whether an inquest will be held.

Mann said it's his understanding that crew members Page was working with received a very brief radio transmission shortly after 1 p.m., and while the message was garbled, it carried a tone of distress.

The helicopter working with the crew was summoned back to the area, and an air search was conducted over the line Page was marking, though they could see nothing.

The helicopter landed, and Page's supervisor found the marked line and the last axe blaze Page had made, but did not come across the body, and had himself unknowingly come close to the den site.

Only after returning to the helicopter and becoming airborne again, did the crew see the bear near the den site, and decided to return to Ross River to summon help.

The RCMP were notified at 4:25 p.m., and lifted off from Ross River at 6:50 p.m., Rook confirmed.

Mann said he recognizes the need to ensure safety of personnel responding in such circumstances, and the need to do appropriate planning.

But there could have been a man's life hanging in the balance here, and there has to some mechanism to drive a more immediate response in these cases, he suggested.

He said there needs to be a common sense approach to override things that might arise, such as who is and who is not certified to shoot a bear from the air, or what size of weapon would be most appropriate.

'People are waiting to see whether this gets sorted out by the RCMP and the COs (conservation officers),' he said. 'If they can come up with their own protocol to speed things up, I would be happy.'

Local exploration geologist Al Doherty knows full well the importance of a timely response to a bear attack, as he was the last field worker in the Yukon to be attacked while working in the field 21 years ago.

Doherty and another man had just left their camp in up in the mountains in the Wheaton River area when they were confronted by a sow with cubs.

Doherty was the victim of a full-blown mauling.

His partner sent out a mayday distress call that was picked up by a radio operator in Dease Lake, B.C., and transmitted to the local Trans North Helicopter company. From the time of the incident, to the time he arrived at Whitehorse General Hospital was about two hours.

'That could have been the difference, if he was just injured,' Doherty said of the 2 1/2 hours between the time the RCMP were notified and the departure from Ross River.

He said the fact that he arrived at Whitehorse General when he did made all the difference, as he had already lost half of his blood.

Doherty emphasized that while bear encounters are part of the exploration business, this is only the second attack on an exploration worker since he was mauled.

Exploration workers, he said, are aware of bear safety, and the fact they are working in bear country and in the vast majority of cases there is no confrontation.

A sow with cubs, however, or a boar on a kill site, are dangerous unknowns, said Doherty.

The sow was killed from the air when authorities arrived on the scene, and Page's body was recovered.

Authorities returned last Saturday and shot the two cubs, as it was determined they had no chance of survival on their own, and that they would only suffer a prolonged death from starvation if they were not killed.

Dennis Senger, spokesman for the Department of Environment, said all enquiries about the response time were to be directed to the RCMP. It is an RCMP file and conservation officers were simply asked to assist, he said.