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Subscribe to RSSOuch! A woman walking her dog near an apartment complex in Longwood, Fla., early Friday morning was bitten in the rear end by a bear.
A wildlife official told the Orlando Sentinel that the woman was taken to a nearby hospital after the incident, which took place northeast of Orlando, the home of Disney World.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Joy Hill said the attack happened at about 7 a.m.
The woman was taken to Florida Hospital-Altamonte in Altamonte Springs with four puncture wounds, the paper reported.
According to the Sentinel, the woman was disposing of her dog's waste into the apartment complex's trash container when she turned around, saw the bear and stumbled to the ground. She was then attacked.
The bear may have been spooked by the woman's large dog, an Akita Shepherd mix, Hill said.
Traps set
Hill told the Sentinel that officers are setting traps for the bear, which will be euthanized if it is caught.
Florida black bears, which are a sub-species, are listed by the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as being a threatened animal. However, they have surged in numbers in recent decades, the paper reported, rebounding from about 300 to about 3,000, and the commission has proposed taking the species off the list.
Mike Orlando, who works for the wildlife agency, told the Sentinel that bear sightings are not uncommon in the area, which is near a state park, but that attacks are rare.
A resident of the complex, Arlene Friedlander, 79, told the paper that she often sees bears near the apartments. "I'm not afraid of them," she said.
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