A bear seriously lacerated a woman’s arm in Colorado Wednesday while she attempted to put her backyard’s hot tub lid back on, authorities said.
The attack occurred in New Castle shortly after 2 a.m., according to a statement from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
“The woman saw the lid to her hot tub was partially removed and went outside to put the lid back on. While fixing the lid she noticed a bear coming out of a tree and charging at her,” the statement said. “The bear, later determined to be the sow, swiped at the woman, hitting and severely lacerating her arm.”
The injured woman managed to get inside her home where she called 911. She also sustained scratches to her back, officials said.
When New Castle police arrived, there were four bears, a sow and three cubs nearby, according to Parks and Wildlife, which ordered police to “shoot and kill the sow.” The sow was in a tree when it was killed, according to Parks and Wildlife.
The agency initially could not determine if the sow or one of the cubs had attacked the woman. The decision was made to euthanize the bears, Parks and Wildlife said. One cub was euthanized.
Because of the location of two other cubs in a tree, along with the close proximity of a busy road and homes, Parks and Wildlife decided to wait to euthanize the remaining cubs.
During a follow-up investigation, Parks and Wildlife determined the sow was the only bear involved in the attack.
Since the two remaining cubs were not directly involved in the attack, the agency sent the cubs to a rehabilitation facility. The remains of the sow and cub are being sent to the agency’s Wildlife Health Lab for necropsy, according to Parks and Wildlife.
Todd Miyazawa contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
