Florida woman attacked by bear while walking dog

By Barbara Liston ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - A Florida woman remains hospitalized in good condition after she was attacked by a bear while walking her dog in a suburban neighborhood newly built in bear country, authorities said on Thursday. Jeanne Barber, 68, was taking a walk on Wednesday evening in a subdivision in Lake Mary, 20 miles north of Orlando, in an area where bears have long roamed, when her dog spotted the bear and took off after it, knocking Barber down onto the sidewalk, a wildlife officer said. The bear, which may have been startled by the dog, bit Barber's upper arm, causing puncture wounds, before running away, according to Greg Workman, a wildlife officer for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "I'm okay," Barber told Reuters from her hospital room, before declining to discuss the incident. Her dog was unharmed, Workman said. The subdivision, which is still under construction, is part of a pattern of suburban growth in Seminole County, an area between Orlando and the 600-square-mile Ocala National Forest. Much of the development has occurred next to and on top of long-established bear trails in the area, leading to increased human-bear interactions, Workman said. Two other women have been bitten by bears over the past year within about two miles of the latest occurrence, he said. "This community decided to build, and there are people buying the houses," he said. "We really don't have much involvement in that process, except we try our hardest to come out and let people know that there are bears in this area and educate them on how to not have any bear-human conflicts." In the past month, with bears actively feeding in preparation for hibernation, the agency has responded to complaints of about eight of the animals in the area, and has trapped and removed five of them, Workman said. Wildlife officials have set traps to capture the bear that bit Barber but have not decided whether to kill it once they catch it, Workman said. Wildlife officials often opt to euthanize bears that have bitten or lost their fear of humans, and in some cases multiple bears have been killed in the course of finding the right one, he said. (Editing by Jonathan Kaminsky; Editing by Sandra Maler)