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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

WILDERNESS SAFETY

DNR issues bear warning after jogger bitten near Ely

Keith Vandervort
Posted 8/1/19

ELY - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is advising people in the area to exercise vigilance in the wake of a reported bear attack last week.

On Monday, July 22, a 16-year-old girl was …

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WILDERNESS SAFETY

DNR issues bear warning after jogger bitten near Ely

Posted

ELY - The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is advising people in the area to exercise vigilance in the wake of a reported bear attack last week.

On Monday, July 22, a 16-year-old girl was bitten by a bear while jogging on a path near White Iron Lake, east of Ely. The incident occurred at about 4:30 p.m., according to a notice to area land owners published by the Minnesota DNR.

The unidentified teen reportedly was treated and released at Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital for leg wounds. The hospital did not comment on the incident.

That same evening, a DNR conservation officer found a bear at a garbage bin near the location of the attack. The bear reportedly showed no fear of people, and the DNR officer killed the animal, according to the notice.

“At this time, based on its behavior, the DNR believes the bear that was killed was the same bear that bit the jogger, based on its behavior, proximity in both space and time between the biting and the bear’s appearance at the garbage bin, and no bear activity at the garbage bin since the bear was killed,” the notice said.

The DNR added that it has yet to definitively link the killed bear to the attack but is conducting DNA testing to confirm the animal was involved in the incident. Those tests could take several weeks to complete. The bear did not have rabies and did not appear to be undernourished.

bear, safety, Ely, DNR, DNA