Calif. woman attacked by bear expected to recover
By Robert Jablon, AP
A woman mauled by a bear in rural Kern County underwent 10 hours of surgery and was expected to recover, her neighbor said Wednesday.
Allena Hansen, 57, was “lucid, active and probably pretty sore” after undergoing surgery Tuesday for serious cuts to her head and face, said August Dunning, who called her hospital room Tuesday night and spoke to her son. Dunning said he could hear his friend in the background.
“She’s fine. She’s talking,” he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
At the family’s request, the hospital would not release the woman’s condition or other information, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center spokeswoman Roxanne Moster said Wednesday.
Wildlife trackers using dogs hunted the bear on Wednesday. One tracking hound was slightly injured after midnight in what might have been an attack by the animal, Kevin Brennan, a wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, said at a news conference in Ontario.
The attack took place in the Piute area, near the little community of Caliente, on scrubland south of Sequoia National Forest about 85 miles north of Los Angles.
The bear was believed to be still in the area because they are “creatures of habit,” Brennan said.
“Right now, there’s a trap set. And we’re just waiting,” Brennan said. “There’s a good chance he’ll come back.”
Capturing the animal could take anywhere from hours to a week, he speculated.
Clothing from the woman was taken for forensic testing to determine if there is fur or other DNA samples from the bear. Brennan said any bear caught in the trap will be killed and its DNA tested to determine if it was the attacker.
Hansen, who has a ranch in the tiny rural community of Twin Oaks, near Caliente, was walking in heavy underbrush on her property Tuesday morning with her dogs when she was attacked, Dunning said.
Her English mastiff may have tried to defend her, Dunning speculated, because it suffered some scratches. An Irish wolfhound was unhurt.
“She had to rely on her dogs and her wits,” Dunning said. “She’s one tough woman.”
Dunning said the attack took place very close to a recent wildfire and speculated that the vast burn area may have pushed the bear into new territory.
“We just had 30,000 acres burn out here and those animals are looking for habitat,” he said.
The bear may have attacked to defend that new territory, he said. … [more]