黑熊攻擊一家三口，一死二傷

Bear Mauls Three in a Family, Killing Girl, 6 April 15, 2006 The New York Times By THEO EMERY NASHVILLE, April 14 — A bear attacked three members of an Ohio family in a remote Tennessee forest Thursday, killing a 6-year-old girl and mauling her mother and 2-year-old brother. The attack, by an adult black bear, occurred at a waterfall in Cherokee National Forest, in the state's far southeastern corner. The children had been playing in a pool at the base of the falls, about a mile up a trail from where the family had parked, said Dan Hicks, a spokesman for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The bear disappeared after the attack, and game wardens with dogs tried to track it overnight. But they gave up early Friday morning and resorted to setting traps baited with doughnuts and sardines. Still, there was no sign of the animal by nightfall. "Each minute that ticks away makes us concerned that it may travel outside of this area," Mr. Hicks said in a phone interview from the forest. On the other hand, "it may be territorial, and not have traveled at all; it may be laying down here 20 feet from where I'm standing." Both the woman and her son were hospitalized in Chattanooga, she in critical condition while his condition was listed as stable, the National Forest Service said. Both were treated for the possibility of exposure to rabies. Those mauled were identified by the forest service as Susan Cenkus of Clyde, Ohio, about 40 miles southeast of Toledo; her son, Luke Cenkus; and her daughter, Elora Petrasek. Ms. Cenkus's husband had stayed behind in Ohio; Elora's father is from Florida. Both men came to Tennessee after the attack. "It's a tragedy, and our hearts go out to the family," said Terry McDonald, a forest service spokesman. "It's just been devastating. All of us are feeling it, too." Black bears generally try to avoid people. In fact, there has been only one other documented fatal bear attack in Tennessee, six years ago, when a woman was killed nearby in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There has been no explanation for the latest attack, although officials said disease was a possible reason. Ms. Cenkus and her children were playing at the waterfall with several other groups of people about 4 p.m. Thursday when another family, returning to the parking lot along a trail, encountered the bear. That family retreated back to the pool, but the bear, having apparently tracked them, burst out of the brush near the waterfall. As adults tried to scare the animal away, its jaws seized Luke's head. Ms. Cenkus tried to fight off the bear, but it grabbed her instead and dragged her into the woods. In the ensuing chaos, Elora apparently fled. Another person at the falls managed to make an emergency call, and when rescuers arrived, one of them found the bear hovering over Elora's body in the woods. The bear vanished after a member of a local rescue squad fired at it with a pistol, but whether it was hit is unclear. Park officials will have to euthanize any bear they catch, so they are hoping that the animal was shot, to distinguish it from a bear that was not responsible for the attack, Mr. Hicks said.