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Grizzly bear kills French musician in Canada wilds

Julien Gauthier, 44, who was on a trip along the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to record sounds of nature for a musical project, was attacked by a bear in the middle of the night and dragged away by the animal.

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A Franco-Canadian man died after being attacked by a grizzly bear in a remote area of Canada last week, police announced on Monday, reports BBC News.

Julien Gauthier, a 44-year-old musician, was surprised by the animal in his sleep.

He was travelling along the Mackenzie River to record sounds of nature for a musical project.

Unprovoked grizzly bear attacks are usually very rare, conservation officers say.

On August 15th, at approximately 7.45 am local time (13:45 GMT), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was alerted by the launch of a distress beacon in the Tulita area on the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories, a largely isolated area accessible only by sea or air.

Camille Toscani, a biologist who had been travelling with Mr Gauthier and raised the alert, said he had been dragged away by a grizzly bear in the middle of the night.

The RCMP sent a helicopter to the area because of bad weather conditions to look for Mr Gauthier and evacuate the travellers. His body was eventually found the next day, reports say.

The victim, who was a composer and soundman, had planned to canoe down the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence to Inuvik (about 1,500 kilometres (330 miles), he said on a crowdfunding platform to explain his project.

See more of this report, with video, from BBC News.