Animals
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Health

Hunter mauled by bear in central Sweden


thelocal.se
Fri, 29 Aug 2014 22:40 UTC
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Roles were reversed in a bear hunt on Thursday night, when a Swedish hunter was attacked by his prey, leaving the man in hospital in a serious condition.

A bear hunt between the towns of Ingels and Bingsjö in Dalarna, central Sweden, quickly took a turn for the worse on Thursday. A hunter suffered a rough encounter with a bear, sustaining severe injuries before the bear was brought down.

"It seems to have been a male bear," Stig-Åke Svenson, director of nature conservation in the country, told newspaper Expressen.

The county administrative board has launched an investigation into the attack.

"One of our inspectors has been there and spoken with the leader of the hunting group," said Svensson, who said it's still unclear precisely what happened.
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Attention

Soldier attacked by grizzly bear in third mauling this summer near Anchorage, Alaska

Michelle Theriault Boots
Alaska Dispatch News
Sun, 20 Jul 2014 21:22 UTC
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A National Guard soldier was mauled by a brown bear on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson while participating in a training exercise Sunday morning, officials said. A JBER release said the soldier was mauled by a sow defending her cubs -- the second such attack in just more than two months on the Anchorage base.

The soldier was in stable condition as of Sunday afternoon. His name had not yet been released.

The Alaska Army National Guard soldier was a participant in a daylong "land navigation exercise," said Alaska National Guard spokeswoman Maj. Candis Olmstead. During the exercise, soldiers are given a compass and map and are timed as they navigate alone to hidden locations on the course.
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Health

Woman walks over a mile for help after grizzly bear attack in Alaska

Zaz Hollander
Alaska Dispatch News
Sat, 10 May 2014 21:11 UTC
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A woman mauled by a sow brown bear with two cubs while running late Sunday morning on an unpaved road on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson barely remembers the details of the attack.

The woman, who asked military officials not to identify her, remained at Alaska Native Medical Center in stable condition on Monday, a base spokeswoman said.

Bleeding from slashes on her head and arms, she nonetheless managed to walk a mile or more uphill back to the Davis Highway, where her pickup was parked, according to Mark Sledge, senior conservation officer on the base. A passing driver, a soldier, picked her up and brought her to the base hospital.

"The lady had the wherewithal, the will to survive and work her way back to her truck," Sledge said Monday afternoon.
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Wolf

Wolves kill at least 2 dozen sheep in Stevens County, Washington


q13fox.com
Thu, 04 Sep 2014 19:13 UTC
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© Washington Department of Natural ResourcesRemote camera image of pups from another wolf pack, the Diamond Pack in Pend Oreille County, Wash., July 2009
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said Thursday it is cautioning other ranchers in Steven County to be vigilant as members of the Huckleberry wolf pack moves about their range.

Stevens County rancher Dave Dashiell, with the help of WDFW, moved his sheep away from the site where wolves killed at least two dozen of the animals in recent weeks, it said.

Working through Labor Day weekend, Dashiell rounded up his flock of 1,800 sheep and herded them to temporary holding pens five miles away, and has begun trucking them to their winter pasture in the Columbia Basin.

"The threat to one rancher's flock has passed, but there are other ranchers and other livestock in that area," Nate Pamplin, director of WDFW's wildlife program, said. "We need to make sure that the owners of those livestock operations - large and small - are aware of the pack's presence and are taking necessary precautions."

Pamplin said WDFW field staff will continue to monitor the movement of the Huckleberry pack and will contact other ranchers in the area to discuss appropriate protective measures, such as maintaining a human presence around their stock, using guard dogs, and removing animal carcasses whenever feasible.
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Wolf

Coyotes killing pets in Seal Beach, California

Harold Pierce
voiceofoc.org
Thu, 14 Aug 2014 18:54 UTC
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© PatchA coyote in a suburban neighborhood. The animals have become an issue in Seal Beach.
Dave Pincek was gone for only a couple of hours when he left his dogs, Buddy and Swiffer, in the backyard of his Seal Beach home to attend his daughter's elementary school talent show.

When he came back, he heard yelping, whimpering and muffled barks. Pincek thought that one of the dogs fell into the pool.

Instead, he found two coyotes attacking his 15-year old bichon and two-year old maltipoo, which were writhing in pain and covered in blood. When the coyotes saw Pincek, they leaped over his 13-foot fence, escaping into Gum Grove Park.

"I don't want to co-exist with the coyote here in Seal Beach," Pincek told the Seal Beach City Council Aug. 11. "I want my daughters ... and my wife to walk the dog through the neighborhood and feel safe - and we don't."

Pincek's dogs are just two of almost two-dozen Seal Beach pets that have been mauled to death since 2013 as the city struggles to find a solution to a growing coyote problem.

The predator animals have become a regional issue that Seal Beach City Council members say requires a town hall meeting involving multiple cities and agencies. A date has not yet been set.

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Attention

Tourist bitten by black bear near Canmore, Alberta


cbc.ca
Sun, 20 Jul 2014 03:19 UTC
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Denmark visitor was bitten by bear near Quarry Lake

A visitor from Denmark got a scare from a bear near Canmore this weekend.

The man was bird watching on the power line above Quarry Lake when a bear approached him Saturday night.

Kim Titchener works with Wild Smart, an organization that works to reduce conflicts between people and wildlife in the Bow Valley and Kananaskis Country. She says the man was surprised by the bear.

"The bear did make contact with him," Titchener said.

"He has superficial injuries. He was bit in the arm and he has some bruising, a torn jacket. but did not require hospitalization so he's doing okay."

Titchener says there is a cinnamon coloured bear with two cubs in the area and it might have been a defensive attack by the mom.

A bear trap has been set in the area.
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Attention

Animal fights back: Hunter mauled by black bear near Smoky Lake, Alberta


cbc.ca
Mon, 04 Aug 2014 16:23 UTC
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© Alberta Fish and WildlifeAfter the hunter shot the bear, it struck back, mauling the man before he finally fired a fatal shot.
A 56-year-old man was attacked by a black bear while hunting for it in the Smoky Lake area Sunday night.

Wildlife officials said the man was on private property hunting when he caught sight of a 110-kilogram male black bear. The hunter first shot the bear in the chest then followed him into the bush.

That's when the bear struck back, mauling the man before he managed to pull the trigger again to fire the fatal shot.

"The bear was on top of him and with basically a hold of him," said Mike Ewald, an investigator with Alberta Fish and Wildlife. "He managed to somehow get his rifle prepared and shoot the bear while he was on him."

After the hunter killed the bear, he staggered out of the woods and his friends rushed him to a nearby farmers' home. Local emergency crews were called to the scene.
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Attention

Rick Cross, missing Kananaskis hunter, killed in bear attack, Alberta


cbc.ca
Mon, 08 Sep 2014 15:34 UTC
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Rick Cross was killed in a bear attack in Kananaskis west of Calgary over the weekend. (Submitted by Cross family)
RCMP say a hunter who went missing in Kananaskis on Saturday was killed when he accidentally got between a mother bear and her cub.

Rick Cross died of severe trauma from a bear attack and his body was found near his backpack. RCMP have also recovered his rifle.

RCMP say it looks like he wandered into the area where the mother and cub were feeding on a dead deer.

Although Cross was mauled, the bears left after the incident so officials believe it was a defensive attack. Conservation officers are now trying to determine what to do about the animals.

The Picklejar day use area remains closed.

A bear closure has been issued for all areas south of the Mist Ridge trail between the Mist Ridge trail and Lantern Creek north of Highway 40. The closure does not include Mist Creek trail or Mist Ridge trail.
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Attention

Family's terror as ferocious black bear spent hours trying to tear open RV in Utah

Zoe Szathmary
Daily Mail, UK
Wed, 03 Sep 2014 15:07 UTC
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A bear hunt is going on near where the incident occurred (file photo)
* Sami Graham was with her children when the bear approached the RV, which was parked in Book Cliffs

* The family tried to shoo the bear away and frighten it

* The bear tried to getting inside two and a half hours and left heavy scratch marks in its wake on the trailer's exterior

* It finally left after her husband arrived and fired a warning shots into the sky

A bear terrified a Utah family inside their RV on Saturday as the animal scratched and pawed at their mobile home in an attempt to gain entry.

KSL reported that Sami Graham was inside with her two young children when the bear approached the RV, which was parked in Book Cliffs.

'This bear is standing straight up on his hind legs looking at me straight in the eye [through a window],' she told the affiliate station. 'I wasn't expecting to be nose-to-nose with this bear. I just hurried and closed my blinds.'

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Black Cat

A third cougar attack within a month leaves six-year-old California boy injured

Steve Gorman
news.yahoo.com
Mon, 08 Sep 2014 10:47 UTC
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Attack: A six-year-old boy was attacked by a mountain lion (file picture) while hiking with his parents and another family in California on Sunday - and he was only saved when his dad fought the animal off
A mountain lion attacked and injured a 6-year-old boy hiking with family and friends on Sunday along a wooded trail in California's Silicon Valley before two adults managed to frighten the cat away, a state wildlife official said.

The attack occurred at about 1 p.m. local time in an open-space preserve adjacent to the historic Picchetti Ranch Winery just west of the town of Cupertino, said Lieutenant Patrick Foy of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The victim's parents reported that the child was walking about 10 feet ahead of the rest of the group - two adult couples each hiking with their three small children - when "the mountain lion came out of nowhere" and grabbed the boy.


Comment: This is the third cougar attack on humans within a month, see also: Some wild animals are losing fear of humans: Biologist recovering after cougar assault in Grand Prairie, Alberta

Teenager attacked by cougar in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta

There was also this: Mountain lion 'stalks' woman near Telluride, Colorado

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