Maryland Bear Attack: Black Bear Euthanized After Mauling 63-Year-Old Woman
In what is the first such attack in quite some time in Maryland, a bear has attacked and injured a 63-year-old woman, after she had accidentally gotten in the way of the mother bear and her cubs.
Officials from the Maryland Natural Resources Police told the Washington Post that the black bear may have mauled the woman at least four times on Wednesday. This was the first incident of its kind in the state in at least three decades, they added.
“This is the rarest of rare,” said agency spokeswoman Candy Thomson. “This is really unheard of for a bear to attack a human.”
Not sure why she may have gotten out of her car, but damn smh #Bearattack #MD https://t.co/hhJwsQ0lqu
— Ramon Payne (@dmvsno1slim) November 17, 2016
The Washington Post report on the Maryland bear attack added that the victim, 63-year-old Karen Osborne, was in good condition as of Thursday morning. According to Thomson, the woman was taken to the hospital for a broken arm, puncture wounds in both arms, and cuts to the head. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening.
The incident took place at around 9:20 p.m. as Middletown, Md. resident Osborne heard her adult children’s dog barking next door, and went to investigate the situation. That was where she, as Thomson noted, was viciously attacked by an angry mother bear. Thomson was quoted by UPI as she offered a detailed description of the Maryland bear attack, and how Osborne was able to reach her phone and call for help despite being injured and on the ground.
“She told our officers she never saw the bear before it attacked her and she told our officer that she was attacked four separate times from three different directions. She screamed for help, no one could hear her, she had her cell phone with her and she called 911.”
About 15 minutes after the attack, wildlife authorities had arrived on the scene, where they found a 50-pound female bear cub nearby. The cub may have also been attacked by her mother but was reportedly healthy and eventually released back into the wild.
The next morning, Maryland Wildlife and Heritage Service wildlife biologists were able to track down the suspected bear, and per agency policy, euthanized the animal. Baltimore CBS affiliate WJZ reported that the bear had a history of breaking into chicken coops and may have also been in a car accident due to its severe shoulder injury.
“We are highly confident this was the bear,” Thomson explained. “It was wearing one of our radio collars so we tracked it with telemetry and put it down, as per protocol.”
Maryland DNR looking for a bear that attacked a woman in Frederick last night. I'm live at 6:30 #bearattack #NBC4DC pic.twitter.com/90yPYXDijn
— Megan McGrath (@MeganMcGrath4) November 17, 2016
Regarding the reason why the mother bear attacked Osborne, Thomson told the Washington Post that this may have been because Osborne had her barking dog on a leash while her children’s dog was barking as well. The mother bear may have interpreted these as signs that Osborne was posing a threat to her cubs, although as Thomson added, the woman was simply “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The Washington Post added that bear sightings have become far more common in Maryland in recent years. Although bear populations had significantly dwindled about six decades ago, they have since recovered, with sightings now being reported in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties; when populations were at their lowest point, bears could only be found in the western part of the state.
Department of Natural Resources spokesman Paul Peditto told WJZ that there are approximately 2,000 adult and sub-adult bears in western Maryland. He added, though, that this is the first bear attack on a human victim in state history. This slightly conflicts with Thomson’s separate statements about the last attack taking place several decades ago but nonetheless underscores the rarity of such events in the state.
[Featured Image by Toby Talbot/AP Images]
