Authorities have discovered human body parts in the stomachs of at least two black bears after the death of a woman with an incomplete body.
Reuters reported on May 5 that authorities in Colorado (USA) confirmed that a woman was attacked and eaten by a pod of black bears in the mountains near the city of Durango last week.
The dismembered body of Laney Malavolta, 39, was found by her boyfriend in the mountains on the evening of April 30, after missing in an area where she was walking her two dogs.
The boyfriend went to look for her after arriving home in the evening and found the two dogs outside without seeing her. An autopsy revealed that she died of a neck injury with multiple bites.
Wildlife investigators found bear fur and droppings at the scene, as well as “signs of body digestion,” leading to suspicion of a bear attack.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Service used sniffer dogs to locate a 10-year-old mother bear and two cubs in the area and killed them.
An autopsy of their carcasses revealed human organs in the digestive system of a mother bear and a cub.
Colorado is home to approximately 19,000 black bears. However, bear attacks on people are extremely rare here, with only four recorded since 1960. By state law, bears involved in human attacks must be killed.
