Wildlife veterinarians with the Arizona Game and Fish Service have determined that the adult black bear that killed and ate a man near Prescott, Arizona, on June 16 showed no signs of rabies or other illnesses. AZGFD press release.
Dr. Anne Justice Allen performed an autopsy on a male bear weighing 365 pounds and aged 7 to 10 years. She reported that the boar’s body fat percentage indicated it was in “good nutrition.” Examination of the bear’s brain stem was negative for rabies and he was generally healthy. The bear’s stomach contents contained human remains “matching the wounds found on the victim.”
Stephen Jackson, 66, was drinking coffee at an outdoor table on his property when the attack happened. The Tuscon resident was building a dream home in the woods near Groom Creek in the Prescott National Forest. Around 7:50 a.m., the bear caught Jackson off guard and dragged him 75 feet over the embankment, according to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office.
“At first glance, it looked like there was nothing to settle on the scene.” [an] Attacks by bears on access to food, kitchens and water,” the YCSO wrote in a statement. facebook post.
Neighbors heard Jackson screaming and tried to scare the bear away with yelling and car horns. But nothing worked until someone woke up their neighbor, David Montano.
“He said, ‘A bear got Stephen. Get your gun,'” said Montano. 12 news.
“I saw a bear further down the hill, so I called it attention and shot it,” said Montano, who used a rifle. “The bear rolled off Stephen…and I shot again.”
The bear died from Montano’s shooting. YCSO and AZGFD officers, who responded to a 911 call by a nearby resident, arrived on the scene and pronounced Jackson dead, pointing out “gross injuries.”
“For all of us, the loss here is a really big loss,” Montano said. “He was a really happy person. It was like he had no problems in this world. And he had that perfect dream unfolding before our eyes.”
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Only one other fatal black bear attack has been documented in Arizona since AZGFD began documenting bear attacks in 1990. June 2011Lara Hollingsworth was killed by a large adult male black bear while walking her dog at night. The raid took place near the Pinetop Country Club in the Apache Sitgreaves National Forest, right next to the Fort Apache Reservation. Arizona, where only black bears live, has had a total of 15 bear attacks.
