Authorities say a lady was taken to a hospital after she was attacked by a black bear as she walked down a New Jersey highway to verify her mail.
The New Jersey Division of Environmental Safety mentioned the assault occurred at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on a farm lane in Lafayette Township. Officers mentioned the 34-year-old lady noticed two to 3 bears and was "concerned in a bodily encounter with one in every of them."
A neighbor used a automobile horn to scare the animals off. The lady was taken to a hospital for remedy of accidents to her arm and buttock and was later launched.
State officers mentioned the bear concerned was reported to be one or two years previous and 150 to 200 kilos. New Jersey Fish & Wildlife was investigating the incident had set a lure within the space. If the bear is caught and confirmed to be the animal concerned within the assault, it is going to be euthanized, officers mentioned.
CBS New York reported that residents say the bear inhabitants has elevated because the state ended the annual bear hunt.
In 2020, state biologists estimated a bear inhabitants of three,158 bears north of Interstate 78 and west of Interstate 287 — a significant enhance from the 2019 estimated inhabitants for this identical area of two,208, in keeping with the New Jersey Division of Environmental Safety.
Bears mauled and killed two canine earlier this 12 months in Sussex County, however the newest assault is the primary involving an individual in virtually two years.
In 2020, an 82-year-old man needed to have greater than 30 stitches after a bear assault in West Milford.
Wildlife officers mentioned a 2014 bear assault in West Milford claimed the lifetime of a Rutgers College scholar, the primary documented fatality from a bear in state historical past. Rutgers senior Darsh Patel, 22, and 4 pals had been mountain climbing within the Apshawa Protect in northern Passaic County after they seen the bear following them, authorities mentioned. The group scattered they usually referred to as police after they realized Patel was lacking.
A search workforce discovered Patel's physique, which confirmed indicators of a bear assault. Police shot and killed a 302-pound bear, which was circling the sufferer's physique.