A mother and her 10-month-old daughter were mauled to death by a grizzly bear at a remote cabin in Canada while the 37-year-old woman was on her maternity leave, officials said.

The bodies of Valerie Theoret and her daughter, Adele Roesholt, were discovered around 3pm on Monday after the child’s father, Gjermund Roesholt, returned to the Yukon cabin in northwest Canada only to have a grizzly bear charge at him, CBC News reported.

Fox News reports that Mr Roesholt shot and killed the animal before discovering Theoret and their daughter dead outside.

“It appears they (Theoret and Adele) had been out for a walk when the incident occurred, sometime between 10am and 3pm,” the Yukon coroner’s office said in a news release.

The family had been spending the last three months at the cabin trapping animals at Einarson Lake prior to the deadly bear attack, CBC News reported.

Remy Beaupre, a friend of Theoret, said the schoolteacher was on maternity leave.

“It was the plan all along to go there and spend a lot of time there, but Valerie couldn’t really take a lot of time off because she was a teacher,” Mr Beaupre told the news site. “Being on her maternity leave, now was the opportunity for them to all go as a family. So they just took their baby and went out on the trap line.”

Mr Beaupre said the couple, who bought the cabin three years ago, was “well-prepared” for incidents, but added, “you never know.”

“It’s a big, big blow. Everybody is totally devastated right now,” Mr Beaupré said. “Lots of our friends are gathering tonight to mourn a little bit and support each other a little bit.”

Yukon Royal Canadian Mounted Police said officials are investigating the incident.