A 10-year-old girl visiting Seneca Creek State Park in Gaithersburg was attacked by a beaver and hospitalized with three laceration wounds.
The girl, unnamed by authorities, was bitten while canoeing Thursday as part of a summer camp activity.
Counselors stepped in and shooed the beaver away, letting it escape into the water, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources said in a release Friday.
No other injuries were reported, and the girl was ultimately taken to a Bethesda hospital by her family.
The section of Seneca Creek where the attack occurred and an adjacent mile-long stretch of trail have been closed off until further notice as park officials search for the beaver.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources said the incident doesn’t seem related to the two recent beaver attacks at Cunningham Falls State Park because of the 35-mile distance and social dynamics within beaver populations.
The two beavers that attacked people at Cunningham Falls were captured and euthanized, and both animals tested positive for rabies afterward.
Maryland wildlife and parks officials said data from local health departments provided no indication that the state is suffering a rabies outbreak.
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