Jeremy Wallace / The Aspen Times
Wildlife officials who have been trying to find a bear that bit a hiker earlier this week on the Hunter Creek Trail in Aspen located the suspected animal on Thursday morning and killed it in the afternoon.
Officials got a report of the bear had been seen at the trailhead about 8:30 a.m. Thursday, according to a news release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
“After following the bear’s trail during the morning, officers killed it on Highway 82 near the intersection of McSkimming Road just before 1 p.m.,” the news release states.
The bear carcass will be taken to the CPW’s Wildlife Health Laboratory for a full necropsy, then to a laboratory in Wyoming for DNA testing, according to the release.
Because the animal injured a human it has to be euthanized as part of CPW’s policy to protect human health and safety.
A woman in her mid-50s from Washington was hiking Monday with her husband on Hunter Creek Trail when they saw the bear, according to the CPW report. She has not been identified.
The hiker was taken to the hospital with puncture wounds to her thigh but was OK.
“They saw a bear walking toward them on the trail. The woman says they tried to give the bear space and stepped off the trail,” the CPW said Monday. “As the bear walked by, she says it suddenly turned, charged and bit her before it ran off and disappeared from view.”
Officials first tried to track the bear with dog teams, but were not successful. They then set out two traps in the Hunter Creek area.
This is a developing story that will be updated.