A 66-year-old man has died after being attacked by a bear in Arizona.

The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office said Friday morning that the attack occurred in the Groom Creek area of ​​the Prescott National Forest.

The man was reportedly sitting at a campsite where he was building a hut when the attack occurred.

Witnesses told authorities they tried unsuccessfully to scare the bear away and stop the attack. An adult male black bear was shot dead by a neighbor, officials said.

Sheriffs said bear attacks like this one were “extremely rare” and there didn’t appear to be any obvious attractants that would draw bears to the area or attack men.

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The North American black bear is the only bear species that lives in Arizona, according to the National Park Service.

According to the nonprofit, Wisdom about bearsprovides educational resources about animals, but black bears are involved in less than one fatal attack each year.

A spokeswoman for the Arizona Game and Fish Service said the state’s last deadly bear attack was in 2011.

The National Park Service urges bears to “appear as big and imposing as possible” and to “make loud noises” to scare them.

“Although black bears typically avoid humans, they can become aggressive when they develop an association between humans and food,” the Park Service said.

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