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 3 p.m. 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.

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 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.," the Yukon coroner’s office said in a news release.

The family had been spending the last three months at the cabin animal trapping at Einarson Lake prior to the deadly bear attack, CBC News reported. Remy Beaupre, a friend of Theoret, said the school teacher 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," 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.”

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," 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.