A black bear left a five-year-old Colorado girl with 70 stitches after grabbing her early Sunday in her yard, then released her when her mother rushed outside shouting. The animal was on the loose near East Orchard Mesa, above the Colorado River corridor in Grand Junction.
The attack happened around 2.30 a.m. when the girl, yet to be unidentified, heard noises in the yard and went to investigate, thinking it was her dog, Fox News reported.
The girl's mother awoke to her daughter's screams and, upon rushing outside to see what was happening, saw the black bear dragging off the young girl.
She shouted at the bear, which released the girl and fled, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported.
Her daughter suffred multiple bites and was rushed to St. Mary's Hospital where she was admitted for serious injuries.
"[The girl] has been the calmest person in the room all day long," said pediatric surgeon Dr. Charles Breaux of St. Mary’s Medical Center, per Fox31 Denver. "Fortunately, she had no life-threatening injuries. No injuries to her brain or chest organs or abdominal organs and no fractures."
She was reported to be in good condition.
CPW spokesman Mike Porras said wildlife officers were working to trap the bear and, if they succeeded, they were "going to put that bear down," per Fox31 Denver.
Black Bears are not necessarily aggressive by nature, but authorities are concerned about an increase in attacks over the years.
A teen made headlines when he was bit on the head by a bear trying to drag him from his sleeping bag in Colorado recently.
Recounting the incident, the 19-year-old staffer at a Colorado camp said he remembered waking to a "crunching sound."
He punched the black bear and others sleeping nearby chased it away.
In another harrowing incident, a Florida woman was mauled in her garage by a bear before being dragged outside and getting free. She had to get 40 stitches
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