A black bear is believed to have fatally attacked a 60-year-old man from Missouri whose body was found on Thursday near a campsite in Arkansas, said officials, who cited evidence of a struggle and drag marks leading from the camp into the woods.
Sheriff Glenn Wheeler of Newton County, Ark., said on Friday that the cause of death of the man at the campsite, Sam’s Throne Campground in the rugged Ozarks, had been officially ruled an “animal mauling,” and that the manner of death was an accident.
He said that the Arkansas State Crime Lab would not confirm that the animal was a bear until DNA sampling was completed, but the victim’s body had extensive wounds that were “consistent with those expected from a large carnivore attack.”
The campground and the surrounding area have been closed while the authorities, joined by local hunters and their dogs, search for the bear. Traps for bears have also been set, officials said.
“I can say that the one believed to have attacked the man was not a large bear,” Sheriff Wheeler said in a statement. “We believe it to be a juvenile male that was likely weaned and kicked off its mother this year.”
Juvenile black bears that are one to two years old average 100 pounds or more, experts say, but their size varies greatly, depending on the bear population in the surrounding area and amount of available food.
The bear also has some identifying markings, the sheriff said, without specifying, that “within a fair degree of certainty, we will be able to tell if a bear is not the one responsible and allow it to go on its way.”
The sheriff’s office responded to the campground on Thursday after it received a call to check on a camper. The caller said that their father was at the site, and that he had not checked in for a few days.
The victim’s name has not been released. The man’s family told investigators that he had sent photos on Tuesday morning of a bear in his camp.
In Franklin County, Ark., about 90 miles west, a man who was attacked last month by a black bear died of injuries sustained in the encounter. The victim, Vernon Patton, 72, was working on a tractor on the side of a road when he was attacked, witnesses said.
The American black bear, which is the smallest bear species in the United States and the most common bear found in North America, is the only bear species found in Arkansas, according to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
The commission estimates that there are more than 5,000 bears in the state. Bear hunting season began in Newton County on Sept. 17.
The black bear is the least aggressive bear species, according to the World Animal Foundation, and it attacks humans only when startled or in self-defense.
It said that the 750,000 black bears in North America kill, on average, less than one person per year.
“I don’t want this to become open season on any bear that someone may see, as most bears fear humans and run away,” Sheriff Wheeler said, warning local residents not to feed or approach bears. “But, at the same time, don’t put yourself or others in jeopardy.”
Adeel Hassan, a New York-based reporter for The Times, covers breaking news and other topics.
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