Woman fatally mauled by black bear in Canada

A woman who was killed by a bear at one of Canada's major oilsands sites has been identified as 36-year-old engineer Lorna Weafer.

Irish actor Alan O' Neill paid tribute to loss his cousin, Ms Weafer, who he described as "beautiful" and  "vivacious".

The Suncor employee was an instrument technician working at a site near Fort McMurray, Alberta on Wednesday when the bear attacked.

“Seven people that were working in a group area and she was attacked by this bear out of that group and dragged off,” Scott Doherty, a spokesman for Unifor, told reporters yesterday.

“People tried to stop it and do everything they could. Obviously they are fairly horrified at what they saw and witnessed.”

Friends identified the woman as Lorna Weafer, and many people have commented on her death on a Facebook memorial page.

Dublin actor O'Neill, who has appeared on the popular TV show "Sons of Anarchy", wrote in a tweet: "Heartbreaking & devastating news for all my family at the very tragic passing of my beautiful vivacious cousin in Canada. #RIPLornaWeafer."

Another union official said the woman’s co-workers blasted air horns to startle the animal, but to no effect.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police later killed an adult black bear and tests were being done to determine whether it was the same animal that mauled the woman.

Alberta department of the environment estimates there are more than 40,000 black bears in the province. At this time of year the bears are coming out of months of hibernation and are looking for food. Average adult males can weigh as much as 200 kilograms.

Prior to the attack, the last time a black bear killed someone in Alberta was on May 26, 1991, when 12-year-old James Waddell was killed at a campground near the community of Slave Lake.

Suncor said the employees were working in a busy industrial area and were not carrying bear spray.

In a statement the company said one if its employees was the victim of a bear attack at the company’s oil sands plant approximately 25kms north of Fort McMurray.

“The employee was pronounced deceased on the scene.”

"We are shocked by this very unusual incident and there are no words to express the tragedy of this situation. Our thoughts and prayers go out to family, friends and co-workers," said Mark Little, Suncor executive vice president.

“All of us need to focus on personal safety and I would urge everyone to be extremely vigilant in dealing with wildlife.”