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2w ago

Mammoth Lakes Couple Fight Off Bear With Hatchet After Home Attack

Officials say the rare confrontation and the bear's euthanasia highlights rising human contact with California's growing black bear population.

An American black bear (Ursus americanus) is walking through the meadow at Cameron Cove in Barnard Harbor, Princess Royal Island, Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia, Canada.
A black bear, as seen in the file photo, is the only type of bear that lives in California. On Monday, a bear in the Sierra town of Mammoth Lakes attacked and couple and their dogs.

Overview

  • A roughly 70-pound black bear engaged the couple’s two dogs outside their Old Mammoth home and attacked the woman when she tried to break up the fight.
  • The husband and wife used a water bottle and a short-handled hatchet to fend the animal off and then drove themselves to Mammoth Hospital with significant but nonfatal bite and claw injuries.
  • Responding officers and CDFW biologists later found the bear severely injured, estimated it to be about 17 months old, and euthanized it as a public-safety risk.
  • Authorities emphasized that aggressive black bear attacks are highly unusual in California and said the people and dogs are expected to make full recoveries.
  • The episode comes as the state, with an estimated 60,000 black bears, has seen more encounters between people and bears and recently adjusted harvest limits as one tool to manage population growth.