The Pennsylvania Game Commission reported that a bear in Luzerne County, PA attacked a 14-month-old toddler and a 5-year-old child that were playing in their front lawn of their home.

The children suffered non-life-threatening injuries such as bites and scratches and were treated and released at a nearby hospital.

Two bears, a male and female in the vicinity of where the incident took place, were trapped 4 days later and the sow was found to have been the offending bruin based on DNA collected from the children’s clothing and blood samples drawn from each bear.

The testing was performed at The Dr. Jane Huffman Wildlife Genetics Center at East Stroudsburg University.

The sow bear was euthanized, and the male bear was relocated to an area far from where it was trapped.

“Although it is unclear what prompted the sow to attack, a bear brazen enough to pick up a baby and try to walk away with it is showing behavior that can’t be tolerated”, said bear biologist Emily Carrollo of the decision to euthanize.

Carrollo, who was trying to develop a full understanding of what had happened days after the attack said, “From everything we understand the kids were in their front yard and an older kid inside the home saw the bear when it was already close to the kids and alerted the parents. The bear had pushed over the five-year-old and then picked up the baby. The children’s mother and grandfather ran from the house yelling and screaming, which scared the bear into dropping the child and running off into the woods.”

Tips to follow so you don’t encourage bear activity near your home include not leaving pets in yards or food and unsecured garbage outside, installing motion detection security lights, keeping barbecue grills clean and stored, and pulling bird feeders when bears are active. 

Carrollo stated, “If a bear approaches you, be extra loud, raise your hands or wave a jacket above your head, and be as mean and firm as possible while shouting. Use rocks, a walking stick, whatever you can find if the bear isn’t retreating but definitely do not run. Bears will sometimes bluff charge, which is terrifying. But you need to stand your ground.”

She concluded, “Rather than fear bears, we want people to respect them and give them their space, and encounters will be even rarer than they already are.” 

Wishing everyone an enjoyable 4th of July Holiday!