A woman was seriously injured when she was attacked by a bear which approached her and her husband on the deck of a New Mexico ski lodge, authorities said on Saturday.
The bear came within a foot of the couple as they sat outside on Friday night, then chased the woman before attacking her in the parking lot of the ski area on the outskirts of Los Alamos, the state game and fish department said.
The woman was hospitalized for injuries including several broken bones, a collapsed lung, bite marks and scratches.
Los Alamos police officers who responded to a 911 call from the woman’s husband shot and killed a bear eating trash in the vicinity, the department said.
A forensic laboratory will analyze DNA samples to determine whether the bear killed by police was the one involved in the attack.
Tristanna Bickford, a department spokesman, said bear encounters are not uncommon in Los Alamos and that the animals sometimes use drainage systems to enter the city from Valles Caldera national preserve and other areas, in search of food.
