Officials reported Thursday that a bear that attacked a man in Pennsylvania this week has been diagnosed with rabies.
The bear “aggressively approached” and started biting and scratching a guy in the picturesque Pocono Mountains town of Jim Thorpe, Carbon County, on Sunday, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Facebook page. According to the commission, this is unusual behavior for bears.
Andrew Neirer, the man who survived the attack, is anticipated to fully recover.Wilkes-Barre’s NBC affiliate, WBRE, was able to collect surveillance tape from a nearby residence that captures the attack’s exact time.
A neighboring homeowner shot and killed the bear, then removed its body for analysis.
According to the test results, the bear tested positive for rabies today, January 23, 2025. The individual in question has received the necessary medical care and is anticipated to fully recover,” the commission stated in its statement.
“All mammals are at risk from rabies, even if cases in bears are uncommon and typically isolated in a particular location. Because male bears usually den alone in this situation, there is less chance that other bears may be exposed to rabies,” the statement went on.
Neirer told WBRE that he saw the bear in the center of the stone trail where he was assaulted while strolling close to his house. The bear pursued him as he attempted to leave.
He claimed that he had no animosity toward the animal and that it was most likely searching for food in frigid but variable weather.
They’re starving. They are going hungry. They are thought to be hibernating. Recently, the weather has been strange,” he told WBRE.
“Warm, chilly, cold, hot. I’m not emotionally spent from it. Go on, it’s just a part of life. The situation could have been far worse. Fortunately, he shot it and saved me. The bears don’t actually annoy you that much, so I feel awful for them. “Just anything can happen,” he added.
Although assaults by black bears are extremely uncommon, bear problems have escalated due to the bear population’s rapid growth in recent decades, especially in Pennsylvania’s northeast. According to state government statistics, there are currently an estimated 18,000 in the state, compared to just 4,000 in the 1970s.
About 600 bear complaints were made from the 13 counties that comprise the northeast region in the late 1990s; by 2002, that number had increased to 1,100.
Reporting unusual animal behavior to the Game Commission at 1-833-PGC-WILD is encouraged.