Officials say sheep herder severely injured after a bear attack

DURANGO, Colo. — A man was injured severely after a black bear attacked him near Durango, Colorado, on Tuesday.

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In a news release, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife said that a 35-year-old man was attacked early Tuesday morning at a camp located in the Weminuche Wilderness about 23 miles northwest of Durango.

The man was working for a sheep grazing allotment in the San Juan National Forest when he was attacked, according to CNN.

The attack happened around 1 a.m. when the man was woken up by some kind of disturbance at the camp, officials said, according to CNN.

The disturbance was between the man’s sheep and a black bear, the Colorado Parks and Wildlife said. The man reportedly fired a .30-30 caliber rifle at the bear before he was attacked.

After the attack, the man crawled to his tent and called for help, the news release said.

“This is an unfortunate incident and we are thankful the victim was able to contact help to get emergency services deployed and that he was able to be extracted to receive necessary medical care,” said the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Area Wildlife Manager Adrian Archuleta in the news release.

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife said they were contacted about the attack around 4 a.m. Wildlife officers were at the Transfer Park trailhead and the scene by the Burnt Timber Trail around 8:30 a.m. They found a blood trail, and the man’s rifle, and were able to get DNA samples. DNA samples were also collected from the man at the hospital.

Wildlife officials found two dead sheep in the area that had wounds “consistent with bear depredation.”

Around 5 p.m., a dog team assisted the Department of Agriculture’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife in locating the bear.

Just before 11 p.m., an agent with the Department of Agriculture’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service shot and killed the bear which is a policy Colorado Parks and Wildlife has once a bear makes contact with a human. The bear was an 8-year-old male that weighed about 250 pounds.

“This is a difficult part of the job,” Archuleta said in the news release. “But when it comes to injuries to humans as a result of a predator attack, human health and safety is our top priority.”

“Until we get results back from the lab regarding DNA testing, we can’t 100% confirm that this is the offending bear,” Archuleta said in the news release. “But based on the information we have at this point, we feel confident that it is the offending bear.”

The man has not been identified. His current condition is unknown but he did sustain bite wounds to his head and left hand and arm. He also had severe cuts to his left hip area and scratches to his back, the news release said.