Search for bear that wounded woman in NW Wis. continues

Wildlife officials continue to search for a black bear that seriously injured a woman outside her home in northwest Wisconsin last weekend.

It happened Saturday afternoon near Comstock in Barron County. The victim — identified as 69-year-old Karen Frye — was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul and was last reported in stable condition.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said it appears the bear was a female with a cub nearby. But the DNR said preliminary findings, including information from the victim’s family, suggest the bear exhibited not defensive behavior — but rather “a sustained series of aggressive behaviors towards the victim.”

The DNR said black bears acting aggressively have a greater risk for repeating that behavior — and that the priority is human safety. Officials are trying to capture and then euthanize the bear responsible for the attack.

“Humane euthanasia is not always the standard practice in human/bear conflicts. Our actions in these types of situations are very carefully determined based upon the totality of the known evidence of each event,” Randy Johnson, Wisconsin DNR large carnivore specialist, said in a news release. “Although we’re still working to piece together every element of what transpired in this incident, we know enough to warrant attempting to livetrap at the location of the incident and humanely euthanize this bear if captured.”

As of late Monday, officials had not captured the bear or its cub. If the cub is captured, the Wisconsin DNR said it will be relocated and released.

“By this time of year, cubs are able to survive on their own and this cub will likely have a better opportunity to thrive in the wild without human intervention,” the DNR said. “Any other bears captured will be released unharmed.”