Bear kills baby

[binny]

Lets be careful out there


FALLSBURG, New York (AP) -- A bear killed a 5-month-old girl Monday after knocking her out of a stroller and trying to drag the infant into the woods, officials said.

The child had been in the stroller in front of the porch of a bungalow with members of her family when the bear grabbed the stroller, said Mike Fraser, a state Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman.

Isaac Abraham, a community leader from Williamsburg in Brooklyn, said people desperately tried to save the girl.

"People started chasing the bear, throwing rocks at it," he said.

The girl's father was able to get her away from the bear, and the animal ran away. A short time later, DEC officers and police shot the bear.

Ward Stone, the state's chief pathologist, said it was the first time he could remember a black bear killing a human.

"In all my many years, 34 summers, we've had them eat birdseed, get into trouble eating dog food in people's yards but black bears are just not noted for attacking humans," Stone said.

The attack happened about 70 miles northwest of New York City, in the heart of what is known as the Borscht Belt. Big hotels and bungalows attracted thousands of visitors each summer, many of them Jewish families from New York City. Scattered bungalow colonies still remain




http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/08/19/bear.attack.ap/index.html

 

[DopeyRN]

Oh how sad. My prayers for that poor family. I cannot imagine anything worse than watching something horrible happen to your child and not be able to change things....

 

[helenabear]

Oh my... that is so terribly sad My heart goes out to that poor family.

 

[cotye]

 

[glo]

How devastating....that poor family

 

[kinlaw6450]

Ok so my question is if she was out there in the stroller on the porch with other members of the family...Were they just watching the bear?? Did he just all of a sudden show up?? "black bears are just not noted for attacking humans" were they doing something to the bear?? Sorry...just seems odd to me.

I feel for the family and that poor baby...

 

[Mermaid02]

So sad..... I wonder if the bear was rabid.... it's just not normal bear behavior.

 

[Goofyposter]

Groosch...tragic, sad and horrifing...and very strange.

I've come across black bears many a times...even in some bad situtations....but I never seen one act anything like that before!....Something else had to be going on with that bear.

 

[newmousecateer]

That is absolutely horrible.

My prayers go out to baby's family.

Bless that little child.

 

[Ricola]

I read somewhere that far more people are killed by cows than by black bears. This is a very strange incident. I do very much wonder what was going on. I don't know if we will ever get an answer.

 

[Kallison]

The bear was not rabid, they tested the contents of his stomach. They did find many human garbage items, so he has either been foraging around homes or being fed by people. It's not unusual in upstate for black bears to wander near homes, our friends have a chalet 40 miles from there and they have been sitting in the family room and seen a black bear walk right by the glass doors into the house. Also when in NH this summer, my middle DS looked up a hill at some homes and said look at that black dog. It was a black bear just walking through the yards in the middle of the day. This bear was accustomed to being around humans as a food source and he obviously thought the baby was food.

 

[B3LM]

That's so horrible. My prayers go to the family.

Beth

 

[NHAnn]

Sounds like a horribly frightening scene,
and such a tragedy for that family.

 

[EROS]

This poor, defenseless child . Perhaps GOD was away on a safari and unable to assist .......

 

[dizneenut]

 

[Tartan Tigger]

Such a tragic story

 

[nativetxn]

So very, very sad

 

[Saffron]

This is absolutely horrible, so very tragic. I agree kinlaw and Ricola ... something is missing from the story. How sad for the baby and the family.

 

[Claudia1]

According to the news today, someone spotted the bear and the mother was in the process of getting all of her children inside. The mother was coming out to get the baby when the attack occured. As I understand it, some adults went after the bear to get the baby.

What really upset me today was listening to WLS radio, right after Rush. I don't know who the 2 guys were who had their own show but they were making fun of bear stories. Not very respectful, IMHO.

 

[PamOKW]

Claudia1 is right. This is an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. For the summer, the people live in bungalows very close together (sort of like a camp). This bear came into the area and everyone went into a panic. The mother ran and got her two older children (still little kids) and took them in the house. She came back out to get the baby who was in the stroller near the porch and found this horrific scene. In hindsight, you might wonder why she didn't get the baby first but I guess it's because she felt the child was almost in the house. The bear was tested and found not to be rabid. He didn't exactly "attack" but rather just found a food source. The bears are getting too bold when they walk into populated areas.

This has to have been a nightmare.

NY Post Story on the Bear

Eros -- If you blame God for everything bad that happens I also hope you give him praise for everything good.