Julien Gauthier, a french musician, was killed by a grizzly bear in the Northwest Territories, Canada, last week.
Gauthier was a resident composer and a musician For Brittany Symphony Orchestra since 2017.
The 44-year-old french musician was reportedly recording nature sound in the Northwest Territories. A grizzly bear attacked him and dragged him off while he was sleeping. His body was identified by his family member.
For those who are not aware, a grizzly bear is a brown bear living in North America and having a large population. The name suggests two alternative interpretations. The prefix, ‘grizzly’ denotes their golden-brown fur with grey tips. Changing the spelling slightly, ‘grisly’ indicates fear-inspiring or gruesome. Hence the terminology.
As reported by BBC, Julien, along with a biologist Cammile Toscani, happened to travel along the Mackenzie River to record nature sounds for the former’s musical work. Their camp was set on the remote areas of Northwest Territories. On Thursday morning, a distress beacon was launch by Toscani along the Tulita area by the river, after the attack took place. Julien’s body was discovered the following day. The conservation officers stated that the territory is rich in black and grizzly bears, but such an incident was not expected as the bears very rarely attack people, if not provoked. In the past 20 years, only four fatal attacks took place, as per the reports.
In his memory, a Facebook post was uploaded with the caption, “His work was faithful to his curious spirit, humble in front of the vast power and beauty of nature. Above all, he wanted his love and respect for nature to be transmitted through music”.