BIGHUNTERFISH
06-18-2007, 02:37 PM
SALT LAKE CITY, June 18 Hunters and wildlife officers in Utah killed a black bear Monday believed to be responsible for a fatal attack on an 11-year-old boy on a family camping trip.
The boy was sleeping in one corner of a tent when family members heard him scream around 11 p.m. Sunday night, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. His body was found 400 yards from the tent half an hour later.
Volunteer hunters joined the search for the bear, and wildlife officers also used hounds. A hunter shot and wounded an animal early Monday, and it was tracked and killed later in the morning.
The family, including the boy's mother, stepfather and younger brother, had camped in a primitive area in American Fork Canyon, about 30 miles from Salt Lake City.
Scott Root, a state conservation outreach manager, told the Tribune that another camper in the area reported earlier Sunday that a black bear attacked him. Root said that in both cases the bears were not interested in human prey but were attracted by the smell of food.
"He wasn't trying to get a kid," Root said.
The boy was sleeping in one corner of a tent when family members heard him scream around 11 p.m. Sunday night, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. His body was found 400 yards from the tent half an hour later.
Volunteer hunters joined the search for the bear, and wildlife officers also used hounds. A hunter shot and wounded an animal early Monday, and it was tracked and killed later in the morning.
The family, including the boy's mother, stepfather and younger brother, had camped in a primitive area in American Fork Canyon, about 30 miles from Salt Lake City.
Scott Root, a state conservation outreach manager, told the Tribune that another camper in the area reported earlier Sunday that a black bear attacked him. Root said that in both cases the bears were not interested in human prey but were attracted by the smell of food.
"He wasn't trying to get a kid," Root said.