An grownup black bear swiped a girl with its claw on Saturday in Monrovia in what police described as an uncommon incident.
A girl strolling her canine on the 700 block of Oakglade Drive was approached by the bear at 9:20 a.m. It “type of charged” the girl, mentioned Lt. Kevin Oberon, earlier than swiping the again of her knee. She was handled for non-life-threatening and non-serious accidents.
Police mentioned the Division of Fish and Wildlife has been notified of the incident.
California is house to roughly 60,000 black bears, the very best inhabitants estimate for anyplace within the contiguous U.S., however assaults are uncommon. Within the areas surrounding the San Gabriel Mountains, bear sightings are particularly frequent. A couple of months in the past, one black bear was discovered dwelling beneath a home in Altadena.
Oberon mentioned the incident marked the primary time that he’d heard of a bear swiping a human in his 23 years on the police division.
People have moved deeper into wildlands the place bears stay, whereas the bruins have equally expanded into areas the place they as soon as had been absent or scarce.
Some specialists contend the 2025 Eaton hearth in close by Altadena worsened the state of affairs, driving bears whose habitat was charred into neighborhoods to hunt meals and water. Residents dwelling close to these communities are urged to make sure meals and trash bins will not be not noted, because the animals are extremely food-motivated.
Occasions workers author Lila Seidman contributed reporting.
