The grizzly bear that killed a mother and daughter at a remote trapline in late November was so undernourished it likely wouldn’t have been able to den for the winter.

Valérie Théorêt and her 10-month old daughter, Adele Roesholt, were found dead 250 metres from their cabin by Théorêt’s partner and father of the child, Gjermund Roesholt, after he returned from checking a trapline.

The man shot the 18-year-old boar as it charged him when he was out looking for Théorêt and their daughter after returning.

Chief coroner Heather Jones and head conservation officer Gordon Hitchcock held a news conference Wednesday afternoon to release the coroner’s report and recommendations.

Jones said the family members have asked for privacy as they come to grips with the tragedy.

The trapline is located at Einarson Lake in the Hess Mountains near the Yukon-N.W.T. border, approximately 230 kilometres east of Mayo.

The investigation, which included conservation officers and RCMP officers, did not find any fault with the mother and daughter.

It found they had simply been out for a walk near their cabin, with the baby fastened to her mother’s back in a carrier, when the emaciated grizzly stalked and killed them.

The cabin and the surrounding area had been kept neat and tidy. Nothing had been left laying around that would attract the bear.

Bait for their traplines was kept in a separate location a substantial distance away, on the other side of the lake.

Tracks left by the bear in the fresh snow indicate a change in its stride and paw placement, suggesting it became aware of the mother and child in the vicinity. It hid behind the low-hanging branches of a large spruce tree from where it ambushed them as they walked by.

“All available evidence suggests there was nothing Valerie could have done to stop this predatory attack,” the coroner told local reporters and national reporters who joined the press conference by phone.

The recommendations from the coroner are focused on continuing education about bear awareness, including the knowledge that injured or distressed bears can pose a threat in any setting at any time of year.

The recommendations emphasize communicating how important it is to carry deterrents like bear spray at all times.

It was determined that Théorêt had not been carrying bear spray because of the time of year.

But the investigation also concluded that even if she’d had bear spray or a rifle, it would not have made a difference, given the suddenness of the surprise attack.

“There is clear evidence this was predatory behaviour,” Jones said.

The head conservation officer explained the bear was so undernourished, it did not have any of the body fat it would have required for hibernating.

Its emaciated condition was likely agitated by it having eaten a porcupine, with quills still lodged in its digestive system, in its mouth, on its face and front paws, Hitchcock said, adding bears don’t normally eat porcupines.

The grizzly carcass weighed 138 kilograms – significantly lighter than one would expect of a Yukon male grizzly of that age.

The evidence gathered in the investigation indicates the couple and their daughter had flown last Oct. 4 into the trapline concession they had purchased in 2015.

They had planned to trap into early January, when Théorêt had been scheduled to return to her teaching job at École Whitehorse Elementary School.

On the morning of Nov. 26, they ate breakfast together before Roesholt left at 9:30 by snowmobile to check their trapline leading north of the cabin.

He tried to check in with Théorêt around noon using his inReach communication device, but didn’t get a reply, although that was not unusual.

Upon his return trip, he noticed bear tracks at the north end of Einarson Lake on the snowmobile trail leading to the cabin.

The bear tracks veered of the trail before reaching the cabin.

There were no tracks in the fresh snow outside the cabin, so he thought Théorêt and his daughter were sleeping inside, reads the coroner’s report.

After not finding them there, he walked to the sauna about 40 metres away armed with his 7 mm magnum rifle, but they were not there.

He began walking down a shorter trapline to the south.

“At approximately 240 metres from the cabin, he heard a loud growl and a grizzly bear came out of the bush 15 metres away charging directly towards him,” says the report.

“When the bear was within two metres, he was able to shoot and fatally injure it to stop the attack on him.”

He found Théorêt and his daughter laying close to where the bear was. Both were dead.

The man covered their bodies and notified the RCMP in Mayo at 3:45 p.m. using the inReach device, then called using their satellite phone.

The first team of investigators arrived shortly after noon the next day.

The tragedy attracted international news media attention.