‘That Cub Was so Small,’ Mother Bear Bites Man After His Dog Attacked Her Cub

Stock image of a bear with her cubs. Skeeze/Pixabay

A mother bear attacked a man in a suburb in California on June 10, after the man’s dog attacked her cub.

The protective mother bear bit and slashed the man in his 50s after he kicked her while trying to protect his dog, reported KTLA.

Sierra Madre police received a call about a person bitten by a bear at 500 block of North Hermosa Avenue at about 1:45 p.m.

The Sierra Madre suburb is in the foothills next to the Angeles National Forest and the man was walking his dog when the dog spotted the cub and chased it to a backyard, reported CBS Local.

The man’s small dog went after the cub and the mother bear attacked him to protect her little one. The man stepped in between while trying to protect the dog and got bitten by the bear.

“I wish the bear did not attack a person, that’s dangerous and my sympathy goes out to that person. You can understand the conflict,” Cynthia Torres, who lives in the same area, told KTLA.

“That cub was so small and I’m sure the mother bear was trying to be protective. I completely understand how each wanted to be protective. The whole thing was a collision, unfortunately. [Bears] are common in this town so this is just a fact of life for us, we choose to live here,” he said.

The man’s injuries were non-life-threatening. He was taken to a hospital and is reported to be doing well. The dog was also expected to be OK, reported KTLA.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) officials tranquilized and captured the mother bear in a driveway and captured the cub a short time later. The CBS video shows both of them tranquilized and loaded in a truck.

KTLA reported that the two bears will be kept in a facility until the investigation is over. A biologist will study if the mother bear was showing normal bear behavior and if everything is alright the bears will be released into a suitable habitat.

A recent blog post by the CDFW says that in the recent past many bears were reported in the urban areas and human intervention was needed to put them back into their habitats.

California is home to only one species of bears–black bears. However black bears come in black, brown, blond and cinnamon colors.

“California’s black bears of all ages are waking up hungry from their winter downtime and are out actively searching for food. Adult bears may also be out searching for mates. There is more bear activity across the state this time of year and sometimes the adults end up in the wrong place, too,” said CDFW.

It said the bears found in urban areas and in suburbs are capable of finding their way back into the forest on their own.

“Only when a bear becomes stuck in a situation where it can’t escape or is in danger of harming itself or others will CDFW typically intervene to remove the bear and safely return it to wild habitat,” said CDFW.

The blog post said in some unfortunate and tragic incidents bears are gets killed in accidents on the road. “Drivers need to be particularly alert this time of year as wildlife of all kinds–bears, bobcats, deer, coyotes, foxes, among them–are on the move, out and about, and more active and visible than usual,” it said.