(CNN) � A 7-year-old boy was attacked by a bear in the backyard of his Westchester County, New York, home and taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries Tuesday morning, police said.
The child was in the yard of the North Castle home when he was attacked around 11:16 a.m., the North Castle Police Department said in a news release. Authorities did not release specifics on the boy’s injuries.
“The parents were right there and assisted the child fearlessly,� North Castle Police Chief Peter Simonsen told CNN affiliate .
Officers responding to a 911 call about the attack arrived to find the bear still in the yard, police said.
The bear “continued to present a danger to first responders and area residents� and was euthanized at the scene, police said.
“Our concern was he did not retreat, so at one point he did advance and when you have that many human beings, I would think that an animal of that kind would normally retreat and it did not,� Simonsen told WABC. “The normal reaction of bears is to run away, especially with heightened activity and noise, they usually retreat.�
The bear tested negative for rabies, the Westchester County Department of Health said Wednesday.
The bear was described as a male black bear larger than a cub but not yet an adult, WABC reported.
Black bears generally prefer to forage for wild foods away from people and attacks are rare, according to the .
“More often than not, a wild bear will detect you first and flee from the area,� the forest service . “However, black bears that have become accustomed to humans and their foods may not run away.�
The agency advises those who encounter black bears to remain calm, continue facing the animal, make lots of noise and slowly back away while keeping children and pets close, among .
The-CNN-Wire
� & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
