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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A 15-year-old boy on a wilderness expedition for emotionally troubled youths woke up to find a 400-pound brown bear with a bad attitude sitting at his feet. After trying unsuccessfully to back out of the tent, the boy was bitten in the forearm and decided to fight back, punching the bear with his left hand a half-dozen times, Alaska State Trooper Adam Benson said Monday. When the teenager tried to run, the bear bit him again below his ribs, this time leaving a half-dozen puncture wounds on his back, Benson said. The boy punched the bear...

DEP official: Bruin wasn't trying to eat Vernon hiker By Rob Jennings, Daily Record A 400-pound black bear that pounced on a Vernon hiker was not trying to eat her, New Jersey's top environmental official said Tuesday in refuting a description by his spokesman about Sunday's apparent attack in Wawayanda State Park. Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell added that he "had no reason to doubt the victim's account" of being chased and pulled down by the bruin on the Wingdam Trail. The trail remained closed Tuesday evening, with the bear on the loose and unlikely to be...

<p>For the first time in more than 30 years, a black bear has attacked people in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park, where it ripped through tents and bit or scratched two campers, the park said.</p> <p>Attacks on people by black bears are very unusual and in this case the campers had properly stored their food to hide the smell, the park said in a statement Monday.</p>

<p>SALT LAKE CITY — A black bear (search) tried to drag a teenager out of his sleeping bag as he and other campers slept under the stars in a remote canyon -- the first bear attack in Utah (search) in 11 years, officials said.</p>

<p>A West Milford man was mauled by a 150-pound female bear in his backyard Friday as he attempted to rescue the family dog, in one of the most harrowing encounters yet between a person and bear in New Jersey.</p> <p>Rob Skrypek, 35, of 21 Alvin Road, bled profusely after suffering "significant puncture wounds" in the hand, shoulder and head during the 2 p.m. attack, state Department of Environmental Commissioner Bradley Campbell said.</p>

MIFFLIN COUNTY(PA) MAN NOT GUILTY IN BEAR KILLING By Grace Hatton What would have been the one of the heaviest penalties ever for any out of season bear shooting was set aside by Judge C. Joseph Rehkamp recently. Last April, David Vogt of Mifflin County, PA, responded to his wife's screams and shot a 630 pound bear that came towards her when she was holding her dog in her arms on her porch. She had been about to put the dog out that evening. Initially the local district justice had fined Vogt $800 plus $5,000 replacement costs. In 2001, a...