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Published October 6, 2023, 7:35 p.m. ET
A Canadian couple fatally attacked by a grizzly bear while camping were well versed in backcountry hiking and took “every precaution” against predatory wildlife on their backcountry trips, their friends told The Post.
Jenny Gusse and Doug Inglis, both 62, and their dog Skip were mauled to death by a bear in Banff National Park on September 29 after their bear spray failed to stop the beast.
“I knew Doug and Jenny were planning a trip this time of year,” their longtime pal Ron Teather, 77, said in an interview Friday.
“I think it was a very desperate bear that saw them as food. It wasn’t interested in their food supply, it was interested in them,” Teather speculated.
The friend, from Ottawa, Canada, said he has taken several backcountry canoe trips with Gusse and Inglis over the past 20 years.
“Their skills were extremely high, they were conservative. They have taken all possible precautions,” he said.
Teather, also a scientist, said her food was stored outside the campsite and hung from a tree. In his last conversation with Inglis, his friend told him that he had purchased “pet-safe food storage.”
Jenny Gusse and Doug Inglis, both 62, and their dog Skip, seven, were fatally attacked by a bear in Banff National Park on September 29 after their bear spray failed to stop the hungry animal. Ron Teather Longtime friend Ron Teather, 77, who has gone on several canoe trips with the couple over the past 20 years, told The Post on Friday that he suspected the “predatory” bear was “very distressed” and “seemed her as looked at food.” He said, “It wasn’t about their food supply, it was about them.” Credit Ron Teather
“This food storage facility was bear-proof,” Teather said.
Another friend, 69-year-old Matt Goettel, who met Inglis at the University of Alberta where he was his research technician, reiterated to The Post that the pair were highly qualified and “knew exactly what they were doing.”
“He was so careful every time,” Goettel, of Lethbridge, said in a telephone interview Friday. “I remember him telling me about camping and how you had to walk so far to pee even from your tent. He would explain all the safety precautions to me.”
The experienced hikers had shared their entire seven-day itinerary with Inglis’ uncle Colin Inglis and had stayed in touch with him via a satellite communications device.
Just hours after telling him they were late that fateful night, Colin received a disturbing message: “Bear attack, bad,” he told the Calgary Herald.
Friend Matt Goettel, 69, of Lethbridge told The Post the two were highly skilled and “knew exactly what they were doing.” Ron Teather The experienced hikers had shared their entire seven-day itinerary with Inglis’ uncle and had stayed in touch with him via a satellite communications device.Peter Adams/Danita Delimont – stock.adobe.com
When rescuers reached the couple’s campsite, they found the scientists’ mangled bodies, an empty can of bear spray and their e-readers still open in their destroyed tent.
Rescuers encountered the underweight bear they believe carried out the attack and shot her because she was still showing signs of aggression.
“According to her, the bear intended to kill her,” Colin told the Herald.
Inglis’ friends remembered him as a “hugely successful scientist” and “go-getter” who often cycled to work, wore shorts in the colder months and was “very concerned about the environment”.
“[He] “was very intelligent,” said Goettel. “He was one of those who ran away. He was that type of guy.”
When rescuers reached the couple’s campsite, they found the scientists’ mangled bodies, an empty can of bear spray and their e-readers still open in their destroyed tent. AFP via Getty Images
“Doug was an extremely diligent scientist,” Teather said. “He was extremely successful. And Jenny was a very, very good technician who you could rely on. They worked together almost their entire adult lives.
Goettel said Inglis was “always” with Jenny and Teather recalled that his friends were “very devoted to each other.”
Teather said he will also always remember the “many very pleasant evenings” he spent canoeing with the couple after a long day, talking about work and future plans.
“Just lots of cozy evenings,” he said.
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