Man survives attack by 400-pound bear in Colorado home
A black bear weighing about 400 pounds left a man with deep cuts on his face, neck and head after it attacked inside a Colorado home.
David Chernosky, 54, woke up at a friend's house in Aspen, Colorado, around 1:30 a.m. last Friday after hearing rustling noises in the kitchen to find a bear digging through the cupboards.
"He was looking me in the face when I came around the corner in the hall," he told KGO-TV in San Francisco. "He was eyeball to eyeball."
Chernosky shooed the bear into the garage, he told media outlets, where the animal got startled after hearing the garage door open.
"We looked at each other, and he just smacked me in the side of the head and spun me around and got me again on the back," Chernosky told CNN. "I literally heard it crack on my head."
The bear fled the house after the attack.
Colorado Park and Wildlife officers found the suspected bear, relying on witness accounts and tracking dogs, and euthanized it. The bear's identity will be confirmed through DNA evidence.
“We never like to have to put an animal down, but the protection of the public is paramount once a bear begins entering homes and responding aggressively toward people," Matt Yamashita, Parks and Wildlife area manager, said in a statement.
Chernosky's injuries were not life-threatening, and he is in stable but severe condition. He had to undergo surgery to mend the lacerations on his face and back, according to KMGH-TV in Denver. Chernosky did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY.
CPW officials said this is the first bear attack in Aspen this year.
Follow Joshua Bote on Twitter: @joshua_bote.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Man survives attack by 400-pound bear in Apsen, Colorado, home
