It's been a year of frightening bear attacks. What's next according to bear researchers?

Bear attacks have loomed frighteningly large in the headlines this year. The most terrifying was a grizzly attack on a group of B.C. schoolchildren and teachers out on a hike in late November. Four people — three children and an adult — from Acwsalcta School near Bella Coola were seriously injured and airlifted to Vancouver for treatment.

In October, a B.C. man was attacked by a grizzly that ripped his scalp, tore off a finger and broke some of his bones. He fought back, punching, biting and shooting it in the leg. However, he succumbed to his injuries three weeks later, the Vancouver Sun reported. Also in October, an Alberta hunter was mauled by a grizzly and airlifted to hospital. The bear was shot and killed by the man’s hunting partner. The attack came just a few days after the killing of the first grizzly bear under a provincial program to deal with problem animals, reported the Calgary Herald. Two hikers on a trail near Prince George, B.C. were hospitalized after a grizzly attack in October. Back in July, a married couple were e-biking near Creston, B.C., when a grizzly attacked, putting the husband in hospital.