SASKATCHEWAN — A 27-year-old contractor from India who was tragically killed in a rare, fatal bear attack in northern Saskatchewan has been identified as Hrishikesh Koloth, an aspiring mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. The incident occurred on May 8 at a remote mineral exploration site, sending shockwaves through both his home community in Kerala, India, and his adoptive home in Canada.
Koloth was working as a contract technician at the Zoo Bay property, a uranium exploration site near Nordbye Lake operated by Vancouver-based UraniumX Discovery Corp, located roughly 850 kilometers northeast of Saskatoon. According to local authorities, a bear ambushed the crew in the deep woods of the Athabasca Basin. A civilian on-site managed to shoot and kill the animal during the encounter, but the intervention came too late to save Koloth. The bear’s remains have since been transported to the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon for a necropsy.
Living in Penticton, British Columbia, with his older brother, Arjun Koloth, Hrishikesh moved to Canada three years ago to chase a lifelong dream. He had trained intensely in mixed martial arts for over a decade in India before joining the Skoden Martial Arts Academy in Penticton. His brother shared that Hrishikesh’s ultimate goal was to fight professionally in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). “That was his dream. That’s why he came here,” Arjun said, describing his brother as a fearless yet humble warrior who “wasn’t scared of anything.”
The tragedy has left his family and coaches devastated, especially as Hrishikesh was just weeks away from relocating to Vancouver to begin a new job as a boxing coach. Arjun noted that the coaching job was simply a stepping stone toward his true end goal: competing at the highest level of combat sports. Arjun has since returned to Kerala to be with his parents and lay his brother to rest, stating that he wants the world to remember Hrishikesh not just as a victim of a tragedy, but for the passionate fighter and dreamer he truly was.
Fatal bear encounters remain exceedingly rare in the province, with this incident marking only the fourth recorded fatal bear attack in Saskatchewan’s history. The last such tragedy occurred in August 2020, when a 44-year-old woman was killed by a black bear at a remote campsite north of Buffalo Narrows. Following the incident, UraniumX Discovery Corp expressed profound sadness, extended its prayers to the family, and temporarily halted all field activities at the Zoo Bay property while conservation officers and the RCMP complete their investigation.
