An Arizona man having a morning espresso was fatally attacked on Friday by a male black bear that caught him unaware and dragged him down an embankment earlier than a neighbor shot and killed it, officers mentioned.
A preliminary investigation by the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Workplace decided that Steven Jackson, 66, of Tucson, had been sitting at a desk on his property within the Groom Creek space south of Prescott the place he was constructing a house, the workplace mentioned in an announcement.
The bear attacked Mr. Jackson and dragged him about 75 toes down an embankment, based on officers.
“Neighbors who heard the sufferer screaming tried to intervene by shouts and automotive horns, however the bear didn’t let go of Mr. Jackson till one neighbor was in a position to retrieve his rifle and shoot the bear to get him to disengage,” the assertion mentioned.
Mr. Jackson was useless when officers arrived.
The sheriff’s workplace and officers with the Arizona Sport and Fish Division mentioned the assault was “extremely unusual” however “seemed to be predatory in nature,” including that there didn’t look like something on the web site that might have precipitated a bear assault, corresponding to meals or entry to water.
The location of the assault was not close to recreation websites for tenting.
The sheriff’s workplace mentioned it might examine the loss of life, and the Sport and Fish Division mentioned it might study the bear carcass and take a look at it for illness.
Todd Geiler, a member of the State Sport and Fish Fee, said in a statement that the assault was “an particularly aggressive, unprovoked assault that reminds us that wildlife might be unpredictable.”
Bear assaults stay exceedingly uncommon, and deadly assaults even rarer nonetheless.
In keeping with the division, there have been 15 bear assaults on individuals in Arizona since 1990, two of which have been deadly, together with the one on Friday. The final deadly assault occurred in 2011.
Spencer Peter, a biologist with the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minn., mentioned black bears are typically “actually timid and shy,” however “you’ve outliers.”
“Some bears are born extra aggressive and daring, and assaults on people are actually uncommon, nevertheless it does occur,” he mentioned, including that bear assaults on people are inclined to happen in distant areas the place bears aren’t accustomed to individuals.
Ninety % of a bear’s eating regimen is vegetation, Mr. Peter mentioned, and the vast majority of the remaining 10 % is bugs. However sometimes, they do search meat.
“Relying on the place you’re in the USA and what’s accessible, normally what a bear goes after is no matter is best,” he mentioned. The assault on Mr. Jackson “may have been food-motivated, nevertheless it’s powerful to say for positive.”
Mr. Peter really useful that individuals who reside or hike in bear nation preserve bear spray or pepper spray readily available always.