Tuesday July 6, 1999 Missoulian article: Boy fights off attacking black bear JASPER, Alberta (AP)
An 11 -year-old boy attacked by a black bear credited his father's wilderness survival lessons with saving his life.
David Thomas, who was fishing with a buddy Saturday when a bear charged from the woods, said he went into defensive mode when the bruin, estimated at 300 pounds, approached.
"Usually if a bear's going to eat off someone, if they put up a big fight, it'll leave them alone," said the boy.
"It tried to swat me three times, but I ducked two of them and blocked one," he said.
The bear bit Thomas on the head and neck as his horrified friend Jordan Carter, 12, watched from behind a rose bush on shore.
Thomas needed more than 30 stitches to close gashes on his head and neck.
"I thought for sure I was going to die," he said. "He was trying to gnaw at my head. I was trying to fight him off, but I could hear my bones cracking."
Carter said he started screaming at the bear until it released his friend, then ran into some nearby rose bushes and hid.
The injured boy eventually hopped on his pal's bike and rode for help.
He met a Jasper resident outside of town, who summoned paramedics.
The bear later was located near the pond where the boys were fishing and was killed, said Wes Bradford, a wildlife specialist with Jasper National Park.
Bradford said a hefty amount of snow in the mountains and a shortage of buffalo berries has resulted in bears roaming farther and farther afield to find food around Jasper.
CAG Comments:
It is scary to know the IGBRC (Interagency Grizzly Bear Reintroduction Committee) is making plans that will allow Ravalli County residents to share in this kind of fun because they want to reintroduce the grizzly bear in an environment that experts agree does not have an adequate quality food supply.
End CAG Comments