Outdoor Adventures

[ksquared]

Just when I get over my fear of walking
in the woods...

Let the hunt begin.

Woman fights off bear attack
By Rob Jennings, Daily Record

State environmental officials on Monday called a black bear's unprovoked attack on a hiker in Wawayanda State Park "predatory" -- and said the results could have been far worse.

The male bruin, estimated at 400 pounds, pounced on an 18-year-old Vernon woman who was hiking in the park on Sunday afternoon.

The woman, whose name was not released, escaped after hitting the bear's snout with her right elbow after it jumped atop her, state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Jack Kaskey said in relating her version of the 12:30 p.m. incident.

When the startled bear flinched from the blow, the woman -- who had 4-inch-long welts on her right side and scrapes from falling to the ground -- ran away and hid among the trees, Kaskey added.

Making grunting sounds and standing on its hind legs, the bruin briefly looked for the woman before sprinting away, Kaskey said. She ran to her home, about three-quarters of a mile away, where her father called police.

"This has all the signs of a predatory attack, where a bear saw a person as food," Kaskey said. "Its intent was to go after a human."

Had the 5-foot 3-inch woman, who weighs 105 pounds, not fought back, "she would have been severely mauled … injured beyond belief," Kaskey said.

Her wounds, as it turned out, were minor and she did not require hospitalization, Kaskey said.

Authorities immediately closed the Wingdam Trail, where the attack occurred, and placed a culvert trap in an attempt to catch the bear. It had not been located as of Monday evening, Kaskey said.

"If we find it, we'll kill it," Kaskey said, citing DEP policy toward bears that behave aggressively toward people. The trail remains closed, he added.

Fish and Game Council member Jack Schrier of Mendham Township, who cast the only no vote last month against a six-day bear hunt in December, said he thought there was more to the story.

"I'd like to know what caused the bear to do this. Bears just don't normally do this. I wonder if there was some provocation," Schrier said.

Kaskey said the attack was unprovoked. The woman, who was wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt and sweatpants, was not carrying any food, he said.

"It doesn't seem as if she did anything wrong," Kaskey said. "She did everything right."

The woman estimated the bear's size at 400 pounds.

"She sees bears a lot around her house. She feels she's a good judge of size and age," Kaskey said.

Sunday's attack was the third encounter between bears and people in northwest New Jersey this year that resulted in minor human injuries. In May, a bear swatted a 2-year-old Sparta boy on his head. Three days later, a West Milford man was hurt after grappling with a bruin that was fighting with the family dog in his backyard.

Authorities killed the bear involved in the Sparta attack, but were unsuccessful in locating the West Milford bruin.

Fish and Game Council members cited escalating property damage reports and the risk to people posed by aggressive bears in authorizing New Jersey's first bear hunt in 33 years. The hunt would be restricted to areas north of Route 78 and west of Route 287, where black bears breed most heavily.

While there has never been a fatal black bear attack in New Jersey, a 5-month-old infant was killed in upstate New York last year. Current estimates range from 1,500 to 3,200 black bears in New Jersey, up from 100 when hunting ceased.

The woman who was attacked on Sunday had just crossed a bridge in the Vernon section of the 17,541-acre state park when she turned around and saw the bear watching her from 30 yards away.

She backed away slowly, but the bear charged. She then began to run but was pulled down by the bruin, Kaskey said.

http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/articles/news3-Bearattack.htm