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Bear brutally mauls woman in Pinetop; officials believe they have the bear responsible
Posted: Wednesday, June 29, 2011 8:29 am

PHOENIX - A Gilbert woman was attacked by an adult male black bear while walking her dog in Pinetop late Tuesday evening. The attack occurred near Sports Village Loop approximately 60 yards from the dumpster where the bear was scavenging. The bear returned to attack the victim several times, and a passing motorist was able to scare the bear away.

The woman was flown to the Phoenix area for medical treatment and is in surgery at this time.

Within a few hours, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services personnel arrived and used dogs to... [ Read Full Story ]

UPDATE: Lana Hollingsworth has been identified as the Gilbert woman who was viciously attacked by a bear late last night in Pinetop. She is listed in critical condition at Scottsdale's Osborn hospital and is currently in the intensive care unit.

A sad story. I certainly hope that she recovers from her injuries quickly.

I'm not a bear expert, but I do wonder what would draw a bear away from a dumpster/source of food and toward a woman (who the bear should be afraid of) more than 60 yards away? (with a dog). I hope we learn more about this story in the coming days.

Is it wrong for me to feel sorry for the bear?

kingsnake wrote:Is it wrong for me to feel sorry for the bear?

I don't think so. Its unfortunate what happened to that poor woman, but the bear is "wild", and should not be likened to a human being committing first degree murder.

I like bears and all... but I'm not gonna feel sorry for anything that attacks from 60 yards away.

Do bears ever get Rabies? (I've never heard of a rabid bear)

I think we will be hearing a lot more of these stories this year with all of the Fire activity in the area. AZGFD has released a few different warnings because of the bears possible displacement.

I do feel sorry for the bear as well, its possible the fire affected it and it needed a new place to find food. But i think the police who dispatched the bear, should have made sure 100% it was the right bear.

RangerKelly wrote: But i think the police who dispatched the bear, should have made sure 100% it was the right bear.

That's not so easy from a practical standpoint.

RangerKelly wrote:I do feel sorry for the bear as well, its possible the fire affected it and it needed a new place to find food.

allanalxndr wrote:I think we will be hearing a lot more of these stories this year with all of the Fire activity in the area.

Director Larry Voyles of the Arizona Game and Fish Department:

We don’t believe this attack is related to wildfires in northeastern Arizona, but it could be related to continued drought conditions.

[emphasis mine]

Maybe I am odd, but I've always felt that rather than be buried or burned, I would prefer that my family drag me out on the woods and let the lions -- or bears, I guess -- have me. I think of it as a way of giving back ...

kingsnake wrote:Maybe I am odd

Yes, you are.

Sounds nice, but it would really be the same as any other attempt at feeding wildlife. Your body doesn't fit into the natural habitat and normal food cycle. Not to mention all of those hormones, chemicals, preservatives, and other crap that your spared ribs and leg of man would contain. You'd probably do more harm than good.

chumley wrote: I do wonder what would draw a bear away from a dumpster/source of food and toward a woman (who the bear should be afraid of) more than 60 yards away? (with a dog). I hope we learn more about this story in the coming days.

Well, neither am I, but fed bears no longer act like normal bears, especially if they have lost their fear of humans.

She was walking a dog, who probably aggravated the bear.
The bear was near a food source (dumpster) and might have seen her as a competitor for food, having lost its fear of humans from being fed unnaturally, perhaps previous experience with people shooing the bear off/locking dumpsters/etc.
Who knows, perhaps the dog startled the bear, with the bear not knowing someone/something else was approaching it.
The victim was a woman, possibly also of small stature and something the bear probably felt it could easily fight off of its food source (dumpster).

Bears don't have consciences. But startling an eating black bear with a yipping dog when you are of small stature - not a good position to find yourself in. Bear will react- flight or fight. Perhaps having lost its fear of humans it appears to have chosen fight, rather than flight. Assuming she didn't intend to get near the bear, it is a very unfortunate situation, hopefully she recovers.

nonot wrote:She was walking a dog, who probably aggravated the bear. The bear was near a food source (dumpster) and might have seen her as a competitor for food, having lost its fear of humans from being fed unnaturally, perhaps previous experience with people shooing the bear off/locking dumpsters/etc. Who knows, perhaps the dog startled the bear, with the bear not knowing someone/something else was approaching it.

That's a tough situation. I've had to dislodge a bear from garbage after it got into my garage, and it wasn't easy (lowering garage door on it finally did the trick). Bears around here don't normally like dogs and (in the absence of food) will usually depart. However, if the bear was defending food and the dog continued barking or making any other type of display, trouble could ensue.

Who is this guy that wrote the article?

It was immediately dispatched..... The department had to dispatch it for the public’s safety.

It was dispatched? They couldn't write, "killed"?

Gee, was the bear "dispatched" for malevolence, or just being a vindictive, premeditation, brutal bear?

Jim_H wrote:Gee, was the bear "dispatched" for malevolence, or just being a vindictive, premeditation, brutal bear?

It was effectively dispatched for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, since it was the wrong bear.

According to his story (on the news tonight) the next door neighbor "bumped" the bear with his car, chased it up a tree, and then when he tried to drive around the other side of that tree to scare the bear off further, it came back down and went after the woman again. Very odd and scary behavior for sure.

@paulhubbard That is abnormal and scary indeed. I hate to say this in hindsight, but maybe he should have backed off once it was treed. Usually that's a golden opportunity to leave. He might have convinced it that the threat was inescapable, so force was necessary. However, if the victim was already incapacitated, he may have felt it was too risky to do anything but what he did.

An important question is why wasn't the trash kept in a bear-proof dumpster? ALL food-related trash should be in bear-proof containers in bear country.