Curious bear swats at mom inside tent with crying 2-year-old, Colorado officials say

A popped beach ball sparked an early-morning encounter with a bear in Colorado, wildlife officials reported.

A bear roaming through a Monument Lake Resort campsite stepped on a beach ball, popping it and frightening a 2-year-old girl inside a nearby tent, a Colorado Parks & Wildlife news release said.

When the girl’s mother went to comfort the crying child, she brushed against the tent wall at about 2 a.m. Friday, June 24, officials said.

The bear swatted at the movement, tearing through the tent and scratching the woman on the head, the release said. The bear then wandered away.

”The woman was not seriously injured and did not seek medical attention,” officials said.

Colorado Parks & Wildlife officers began a search for the bear, which would have been euthanized under state policies because it made contact with a human, which is considered an attack, the release said.

“This is an unfortunate incident because the bear was not aggressively pursuing the victim,” Mike Brown, area wildlife manager for the region, said in a statement. “If the bear intended to harm the woman, the outcome would have been much worse.”

The agency set a trap for the bear and called for a U.S. Department of Agriculture dog team to search for the animal, the release said.

But Colorado Parks & Wildlife officials canceled the search Monday, June 27, the agency said in a news release.

“We called off the team of dogs and pulled the trap out,” Brown said in a statement. “Given the circumstances of this incident, we are confident there is not an aggressive bear in the area.”

He said the bear reacted instinctively by swatting at movement inside the tent.

“It did not see the people inside or pursue them,” Brown said. “It swatted the tent and moved on.”

The dog team tracked the bear for miles, helping to drive it and other bears from the area, wildlife officials said.

Officials advised that people sleep away from tent walls as bears will sometimes react to movement inside, the release said.

Bear attacks on humans are rare, the National Park Service says, and most happen when the bear is protecting its cubs, its food or its space.

NPS advises people to play dead if they’re attacked by a brown bear, but to flee or fight back if attacked by a black bear.

Monument Lake Resort is west of Trinidad, which is south of Colorado Springs near the New Mexico border.

This story was originally published June 26, 2022 at 10:30 AM with the headline "Curious bear swats at mom inside tent with crying 2-year-old, Colorado officials say."