SALT LAKE CITY – Rifle-toting wildlife officers and a pack of specially trained hounds have cornered and killed a black bear that ripped open a tent, carried off a boy and mauled him to death.
The animal carried off an 11-year-old boy in his sleeping bag at a primitive camping area late Sunday night in the Timpooneke trail area of American Fork Canyon.
The boy’s family – his mother, stepfather and a 6-year-old brother – heard the boy screaming and rushed to help, but he was already gone. Searchers followed bear tracks into the forest and about 11:35 p.m. Sunday found the boy’s remains, about 400 yards away from the shredded tent.
About 7 a.m., a volunteer hunter with the search team shot what was believed to be the renegade bear in a tree; the animal ran off, leaving a blood trail behind near the northeast tip of Mount Timpanogos.
Shortly before noon, according to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, hunters and hounds closed in on the wounded animal and killed it. A helicopter was being dispatched to retrieve the bear’s remains.
Wildlife officials were aware of bear problems in the area earlier, according to Scott Root, a state conservation outreach manager, He says an incident near the same campground occurred at dawn Sunday when a camper reported a bear take a swipe at him inside a tent. The camper was struck on the head, but not injured. Hunters were dispatched then, too, but did not find the animal.
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