39-Year-Old Woman In Colorado, USA Was Attacked And Eaten By A Black Bear

Illustration (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - A woman, whose mutilated body was found after going missing while walking in the mountains of Colorado United States, was confirmed on Tuesday, May 4 to have been mauled to death and eaten by a family of black bears.

The black bears have been tracked down and killed by wildlife agents.

The remains of 39-year-old Laney Malavolta were found on Friday evening April 30 by her boyfriend near the town of Durango, about 560 kilometers southwest of Denver, in an area where she frequently walks the couple's two dogs, authorities said.

Malavolta's boyfriend went looking for the woman when he got home on Friday night and found her dogs outside without Malavolta.

"An autopsy showed that she died from penetrating wounds in the neck, including multiple bite wounds", La Plata regional coroner Jann Smith told Reuters by telephone cited from Antara, Wednesday, May 5.

"Wildlife investigators detected bear fur and droppings at the scene along with signs of human consumption that led them to suspect a bear attack", the Colorado Parks and Wildlife agency said in a statement.

Using sniffer dogs, wildlife officials later found a 10-year-old female bear and two-year-old cubs in the area, and the three bears were killed, the statement said.

Later, examination of the three bears in a Colorado state wildlife laboratory revealed human remains in the digestive tract of the mother bear and one cub, the agency said.

The examination results on the bear and the autopsy findings on Malavolta's body proved that the woman had been attacked and consumed by the bear.

Colorado is home to a rapidly growing population of about 19.000 black bears. Fatal attacks on humans are extremely rare, with only four documented in the state since 1960.

Colorado wildlife agency policy requires euthanization of bears involved in attacks on humans, said Cory Chick, the agency's regional manager.

"A bear that is no longer afraid of humans is a dangerous animal. And this bear is teaching its cubs that humans are a source of food, not something to fear and avoid", said Chick.