Wildlife officials are searching for a small black bear that broke into an 82-year-old woman's home in the dead of night.
The woman fortunately managed to escape from the incident with only scratches. She woke up before dawn on Friday in response to a loud crashing noise and her dog's growling, as reported by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in a press statement.
According to The New York Post, As she opened the double doors to her mudroom, a small cinnamon-colored black bear jumped at her, scratching the woman on the legs.
She was able to shove the bear off her and quickly shut the doors to the room. The bear, which she believes weighed less than 100 pounds, frantically ran around the room before scaling a shelf and ripping through an open window screen to escape, parks and wildlife officials said.
"Human health and safety always remain our top priority in any incident like this, regardless of how minor the injuries are," Mike Brown, CPW area wildlife manager for the region, said in the news release.
"CPW officers are doing everything we can to locate this bear. Luckily, the victim's injuries consist of very minor scratches."
Wildlife authorities are currently in pursuit of the wild creature, which is deemed hazardous due to its involvement in injuring a person. If successfully captured, the animal will be subject to "humane euthanasia," as confirmed by officials.
Colorado is not the sole US state to undergo a bear attack this summer. In the previous month, a jogger hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, managed to narrowly evade an encounter with a mother bear.
