The Associated Press
COLVILLE — State Fish and Wildlife officers are looking for a black bear reported to have attacked a 36-year-old woman jogging in the Colville National Forest of northeast Washington.
The Stevens County sheriff’s office said the woman was attacked Thursday on a trail between Thomas and Gillette lakes, 17 miles northeast of Colville.
She reportedly dropped to the ground in a protective fetal position, the bear batted at her and then left.
She was treated at a Colville hospital and released.
State wildlife officers are working with Forest Service staff to investigate the scene and place bear traps.
Fish and Wildlife Capt. Chris Anderson says if officers find a bear and determine it was the animal involved, it will be killed.
He said historical records show five other bear attacks on humans and one reported fatality in Washington.
The state has an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 black bears.
In related news, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said a hiker’s photo confirms a sighting of a grizzly bear in the North Cascades for the first time in perhaps half a century.
The service said Friday a panel of experts identified the grizzly in a photo taken last October by Joe Sebille.
The Mount Vernon man says he was hiking near Marblemount in northcentral Skagit County when he saw the bear and snapped the cell phone photo.
Friends persuaded him to share the photo with the North Cascades National Park.
A member of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee, Becki Heath, said the sighting was a significant event in the recovery of the bear.
Fewer than 20 grizzlies are believed to live in the North Cascades.
Grizzly bears are protected under state and federal law.
