A black bear was shot dead Tuesday in North Castle, New York, after it injured a seven-year-old boy in an attack in the backyard of the boy’s house.
The North Castle Police Department did not say what, if anything, led the bear to attack the boy. The incident occurred at around 11:15 a.m.; the unidentified boy was playing with a sibling in the backyard of their house when the bear showed up, according to WABC-TV.
The boy’s parents, also unnamed, rushed outside upon hearing screams. The pair treated his wounds and scared the bear away from them, although the animal did not leave the backyard.
The boy received further treatment from emergency services at the scene and was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The bear, however, remained aggressive; police chose to shoot the animal dead.
“Our concern was he did not retreat so at one point he did advance and when you have that many human beings, I would think that an animal of that kind would normally retreat and it did not,” NCPD Chief Peter Simonsen said in a press conference.
The carcass will now be tested for rabies by state conservation authorities. The incident was the first bear attack in the area known to NCPD, Mr. Simonsen told reporters.
The chief of the nearby Armonk Fire Department concurred.
“We’ve never encountered this before,” Armonk Fire Chief Charles Cano told the New York Times.
The male bear was purportedly an adolescent, police officials told WNYW-TV.
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