A New Jersey woman was hospitalized after she was attacked by a black bear while walking down the road to retrieve her mail.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said the attack happened at about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday on a farm lane in Lafayette Township, which is located in rural Sussex County in the northwest corner of New Jersey.
Officials said the 34-year-old woman saw two to three bears and was “involved in a physical encounter with one of them.”
A neighbor used a car horn to scare the animals off.
The victim was transported to a hospital for treatment of injuries to her arm and back and was later released.
State officials said the bear involved was reported to be one or two years old and 150 to 200 pounds. New Jersey Fish & Wildlife was investigating the incident had set a trap in the area.
If the bear is caught and confirmed to be the animal involved in the attack, it will be euthanized, officials said.
Black bears, the largest land mammal in New Jersey, are considered an integral part of the state’s natural heritage and a vital component of healthy ecosystems.
Since the 1980s the Garden State’s black bear population has been increasing and expanding its range both southward and eastward from the forested areas of northwestern New Jersey.
Within the most densely populated state in the nation, black bears are thriving and there are now confirmed bear sightings in all 21 of New Jersey’s counties.
The DEP’s Fish and Wildlife personnel use an integrated approach in managing New Jersey’s black bear population, fostering coexistence between people and bears.
Bears mauled and killed two dogs earlier this year in Sussex County, but the latest attack is the first involving a person in almost two years.
In 2020, an 82-year-old man had to have more than 30 stitches after a bear attack in West Milford. Wildlife officials said a 2014 bear attack in West Milford claimed the life of a 22-year-old Rutgers University student, the first documented fatality from a bear in state history.
Authorities recently reported a bear sighting in Union County, near the cities of Linden and Rahway.