Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is searching for a bear they say ran over and injured a woman sleeping in a tent at Monument Lake Resort on Friday.
The woman was on a camping trip with her husband and child when the incident happened.
“The victim reported that around 2 a.m. the bear stepped on a beach ball outside the tent, causing it to burst. The noise woke the victim’s 2-year-old daughter, who The victim moved her daughter to comfort her, likely rubbing the side of the tent,” a CPW press release said.
The bear then allegedly crushed the tent and punched the woman through the fabric. She suffered minor scratches to her head and did not see a doctor.
According to CPW policy, since the bear made contact with a human, this incident is classified as an attack. If the bear is found, it will be euthanized, the statement said.
“This is an unfortunate incident as the bear was not aggressively pursuing the victim,” said Mike Brown, CPW’s wildlife manager for the region.
“The local district wildlife director has set a trap in the campsite in hopes of catching this bear.”
U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) crews and their search dogs pursue the bear. At the time of publication Saturday morning, the bear has not been found.
“If the bear intended to harm the woman, the outcome would have been much worse,” Brown said. “The evidence from the survey shows that bears react to the environment in which they live.”
CPW recommends that campers sleep away from the walls of their tents to avoid attracting the attention of wildlife. You can find more information about camping in bear country here.
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