Bear kills boy after snatching him from tent

Bear kills boy after snatching him from tent

Last updated at 13:15pm on 19th June 2007 Comments (3)

A bear that snatched an 11-year-old boy from his tent and mauled him to death has been gunned down by rangers.

Police helicopters and 26 tracker dogs joined the hunt for the 300lb black bear after it struck just after midnight in the Wasatch Mountains, 30 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, Utah.

The boy, his mother, stepfather and a six-year-old brother were sleeping in a large tent in a backwoods camping area when the bear lumbered into one end.

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Rangers hunt the bear which killed the boy

The stepfather heard the boy scream as the bear dragged him away in his sleeping bag. He raced after them but they had disappeared.

The boy was found 400 yards from the camp in the direction of another site which had reported a marauding bear earlier in the weekend.

It is not known what provoked the attack but Hal Black, a biologist at Brigham Young University, said bears can smell food for miles. "They stick their noses in the air, it's like radar," he said.

It is not known what provoked the attack (file photo)

Jim Karpowitz, director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said this was the first fatal attack by a black bear in the state. "When it is hot and dry like this, bears are short of food," he added.

Lieutenant Dennis Harris of the county Sheriff's Office said: "All the boy wanted to do was come up and have a good time and then something like this happens.

"It's probably the most devastating thing that can happen to a family."