Florida kills 5 bears after mauling

A Central Florida woman was recovering at home on Monday after a bear knocked her down outside her house, clamped its jaw on her head and tried to drag her away on Saturday, her husband said. In response, Florida wildlife officials killed several of the animals. 

The attack comes amid increased contact between bears and humans in new housing developments north of Orlando, with authorities saying bears often feed on garbage in residential areas and don’t shy away from humans like their counterparts in the wild. 

Terri Frana, 44, of Lake Mary, received stitches and staples in the back of her head to close a wound and had visible gashes on her forehead, back and around her mouth, according to Greg Workman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

As of Monday morning, wildlife officers had killed five bears that seemed to have lost their fear of humans, Workman said. Officers shot one bear after it continued to advance on them even as they yelled, something that usually scares off a bear. 

DNA testing will determine whether they killed the bear that mauled Frana. According to the Orlando Sentinel, it was a black bear, one of several species of bear that live in North America. 

The attack happened Saturday evening after Frana went outside to check on her children.

“She started pulling me toward the woods,” Frana, a mother of two, told WESH-TV. “I just thought, ‘God, please, this can’t be the end. It can’t end like this.’”

Frana’s home is in a part of Florida where urban sprawl has plopped homes in former wilderness areas connected to the 600-square-mile Ocala National Forest, leaving bear habitat fractured and people living alongside long-established bear trails.

Calls about bears, including reports of sick or injured bears, have more than quadrupled in Florida over the past decade, and more than half the complaints were from Central Florida, according to the FWC.

In December, Susan Chalfant, 54, of Longwood, was attacked by a bear while walking her dog. She told neighbors who found her bleeding profusely from the head that she didn’t see the bear that knocked her to the ground.

Wildlife officials try to educate the public about how to avoid interactions with bears to keep people and bears safe. At the top of the list is placing food garbage out of the reach of bears.

“The fact that we have come across so many bears with so little fear of humans indicates that these bears are highly habituated and are regularly receiving food from people,” said Dave Telesco, the FWC’s bear program coordinator.

“Our staff is dedicated to wildlife conservation. Having to put down these bears is a very difficult decision, but it’s the right decision to ensure public safety. Unfortunately, the saying is true: A fed bear is a dead bear.”

Al Jazeera and Reuters