Bear Attacks Boy in His NY Yard, Doesn't Retreat

A New York boy was hospitalized following a black bear attack in his yard that ended with the bear being shot dead. The 7-year-old was in the backyard of his Bedford home some 40 miles north of New York City around 11am on Tuesday when the bear apparently grabbed him. The child's parents managed to scare the bear off, though it remained in the family's yard. The boy's mom, a doctor, bandaged his wounds and he was taken to the hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening.

Officers with the North Castle Police Department said they were forced to shoot the animal as it presented a continued danger. "Our concern was he did not retreat. At one point he did advance. When you have that many human beings, an animal of that kind would normally retreat, and it did not," North Castle police chief Peter Simonsen tells FOX5. The remains will be tested for rabies. The New York Times reports bear sightings have been on the rise in Westchester County, which encompasses Bedford: The nine sightings logged in 2017 more than quadrupled to 40 last year. Yet attacks are virtually unheard of: "We've never encountered this before," said a 20-year veteran of the local fire department. (More bear attack stories.)