The victim was building a hut in the area, authorities said. He was sitting in a chair at his campsite when a bear attacked him. The bear dragged him about 75 meters and, according to the sheriff, began to “eat” him. When neighbors heard the man calling for help, they rushed over and tried to scare the bear away by yelling and honking. A neighbor eventually grabbed a rifle and shot the bear, but the man was already dead by then.
The animal in question was an adult black bear that appeared healthy and showed no obvious signs of illness, said Darren Tucker of the Arizona Department of Wildlife and Fish. “This attack appears to be predatory in nature,” Tucker said. “This situation is very unusual, not the norm.” Bear attacks often revolve around food, Tucker said, but that was out of the question, he said.
Friday’s incident is the 15th reported bear attack since the late 1980s in Arizona, where only black bears live. It was only the second time a bear had killed a human in the process.