Human remains found in 2 bears suspected in Colorado attack

[Graybeard]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/human-remains-found-2-bears-144005229.html

Mon, May 3, 2021, 9:40 AM·2 min read

Mon, May 3, 2021, 9:40 AM·2 min read
DURANGO, Colo. (AP) — Human remains were found in two of the three black bears euthanized after they were suspected of killing a Colorado woman in an apparent attack, state wildlife officials said.

The 39-year-old woman was found dead north of Durango in southwestern Colorado on Friday, her body mauled, and authorities suspected a rare bear attack because of the bear scat and hair found at the scene. A dog team found a 10-year-old female black bear and two yearling cubs nearby and they were killed because they were suspected of attacking her and it was believed they would likely attack someone else.

The human remains were found inside the stomachs of the sow and one of the cubs during a necropsy Saturday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in a press release Sunday. The bears all appeared to be healthy according to an initial examination by a pathologist, showing no sign of disease and with adequate fat stores following the winter hibernation season, the agency said. A microscopic examination of their body tissue and rabies testing to find other possible reasons that could have led them to attack will take up to two weeks, it said.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the boyfriend, family and friends of the woman we lost in this tragic event,” said Cory Chick, CPW’s regional manager, said in the announcement of the necropsy findings. “We cannot determine with exact certainty how or why this attack took place, but it is important for the public not to cast blame on this woman for the unfortunate and tragic event."

Chick said the sow was teaching its yearlings that humans were a source of food, not something to fear or avoid, making them dangerous to people.

The woman, whose name has not been released, was believed to have gone walking with her dogs earlier Friday, according to her boyfriend. He returned home at about 8:30 p.m. and the dogs were outside, but the woman was missing. He started searching and found her body an hour later off U.S. Highway 550 near Trimble, a community north of Durango, and called 911, CPW has said.

An autopsy is planned for the woman on Tuesday.

The most recent fatal bear attack in Colorado was in August 2009 near Ouray, also in the southwestern part of the state. A 74-year-old woman was killed by a 394-pound (179-kilogram) male black bear. An investigation determined she had been illegally feeding bears through the fence in her yard, the agency said.

[Dee]

In our younger days when we lived up here, it was, and is, not too far to Colorado and New Mexico.
Linda and I did a lot of wilderness hiking in black bear country. Sometimes I carried an 870 Remington on a sling loaded with magnum slugs, and sometimes a 357 magnum. Sometimes both.
Bears are bears.

[O-mega]

I read somewhere that dogs being present made the likelihood of attack much higher.  So the more likely scenario, instead of the bear teaching her cubs that humans are food, is that the dog became aggressive and the bear was protecting her cubs.  Dog ran and woman was slow, and once dead, she wasn't going to let her kill go to waste. 
Sucks the bears had to be killed, but once they learn humans are easy prey they are more likely to do it again, so it needed to be done.

[Argent 88]

Sucks the bears had to be killed, but once they learn humans are easy prey they are more likely to do it again, so it needed to be done.

Sharks are like that.

[Dee]

I read somewhere that dogs being present made the likelihood of attack much higher.  So the more likely scenario, instead of the bear teaching her cubs that humans are food, is that the dog became aggressive and the bear was protecting her cubs.  Dog ran and woman was slow, and once dead, she wasn't going to let her kill go to waste. 
Sucks the bears had to be killed, but once they learn humans are easy prey they are more likely to do it again, so it needed to be done.

I was a K9 trainer/handler during that time so we always had a dog with us.
Always knew he would have made a good distraction while I took care of business.
Never figured on the dog attracting bears.

[Doublebass73]

One time when I was hiking in the White Mountains I got false charged by a mama black bear, she wasn't that big but I was still wide awake after that event. I had my .38 Special loaded with Buffalo Bore 158 grain LSWC so I thought about taking her since I had a bear tag but I didn't want to orphan the cubs so I backed out of there.

I had a couple yearling bears sniffing around my chicken coop one time. I grabbed my shotgun and tried to chase them off but they had no fear of people, they held their ground. I fired a warning shot and it didn't phase them one bit. I found out later that another neighbor up the road had killed their mother because she had no fear of people so she trained her yearlings to be the same way. They both ended up coming back later that night so I shot one of them in the ass with birdshot. It took off running but his sibling stayed right there. I ejected the shell from my H&R 16 gauge single shot, loaded another round of birdshot and shot that one in the ass too. It took off running and I haven't seen either one of them since. Hopefully that provided the level of training their mother never gave them. We're allowed to legally shoot them here if they're getting into livestock but they won't let us keep the meat if we kill one unless it's bear season and we have a tag.

[DDZ]

I guess some people walk in areas where there are bear, with the idea it will never happen to me. Those are the ones that don't carry a firearm.