Trackers Kill 2 Bears After More Campers Are Mauled

Two black bears were tracked by hounds and shot to death early Friday after a 12-year-old Boy Scout was mauled while he slept and another Scout was clawed in the face in the second bear attack in the San Bernardino Mountains in three days.

The attack occurred at Camp Tahquitz, about two miles from another youth camp where 13-year-old Joshua Isaacs was attacked by a bear Tuesday. State Department of Fish and Game officials say they are reasonably sure that the larger of the two bears they killed is the one that ripped Joshua’s scalp from ear to ear.

In the moonless, dark forest shortly before 5 a.m. Friday, several adult supervisors saw two bears roaming through their camp and tried to frighten them off, Camp Tahquitz Director Michael Dermody said. One bear ran into a log lean-to where Bobby Clark, 12, of Fullerton was sleeping with three other Scouts and tore off a 4-by-2 1/2-inch, quarter-inch deep piece of his scalp.

The boy, a member of a church-organized Scouting troop, underwent three hours of surgery at Redlands Community Hospital and was in good condition late Friday.

“He’s doing very well and in good spirits,” hospital spokeswoman Marcia Williams said. “He’s a very strong boy.”

Brian Song, 12, a San Gabriel Valley boy who was sleeping in a tent about 500 yards away, was clawed in the face and suffered cuts under his right eye and on his eyelid. He received 10 stitches and was released from the hospital.

A third Scout suffered welts on his back, apparently when a bear clambered over him, but he did not require treatment.

Just before Bobby was mauled, a bear tried to enter a tent where Ethan Ingram, 12, of Glendora and a friend named friend Brett were sleeping--with an open bag of sunflower seeds nearby.

“I felt a claw on my head,” Ethan said. “We heard it breathing and we backed up to the opposite side of the tent. Then boom! It collapsed part of the tent trying to get to the sunflower seeds. Brett screamed. . . . He kept screaming so I joined him.”

They were about 300 yards from where Bobby was hurt.

John Miller, 13, of Fullerton was sleeping near the lean-to when the commotion woke him. “I saw the bears pass by my tent and the adults chased him, throwing rocks and using their flashlights,” John said.

The bear entered the lean-to, where John said it “kind of sat on Bobby,” who “tried to push (the bear) off him like it was another kid joking around.”

Within half an hour of receiving a call from the camp director, two animal trackers and a state Fish and Game biologist arrived with six bloodhounds.

The hounds immediately picked up the bears’ scent, located them about half a mile away and chased them up a pine tree. To make sure they had the right bears, the two trackers retraced the trail back to the camp.

About 9:30 a.m., the trackers shot the bears with a rifle and a shotgun from about 150 yards away. One bear dropped to the ground and charged state Fish and Game wildlife biologist Kevin-Barry Brennan, who shot it to death when it was 15 feet away.

“I’m absolutely certain that we got the offending animal from this morning’s incident,” Brennan said Friday. “As far as Josh’s incident, because of the unusual manner of the attack, and the vicinity and the timing, I’m reasonably assured that we got the bear that attacked him as well.”

Adding to the mystery of the attacks, Brennan said, initial findings from a necropsy at a San Bernardino laboratory showed the two male bears had been in excellent health. Wildlife officials had speculated that the animal who attacked Joshua was sick or wounded, which might have accounted for its aggressive behavior.

The results of rabies tests will not be available until today, but Brennan said it is unlikely the bears suffered from the disease.

Brennan said he believes the larger bear, weighing 200 pounds, attacked Bobby and Joshua, while the other, about 175 pounds, was its traveling companion.

The pair probably were siblings about 3 years old who had recently been weaned from their mother, an old sow that is a frequent visitor around the campgrounds, Brennan said. The younger bears might not have yet learned to hunt in the wild, he said.

“The bears may have learned that the campgrounds were good places for food, and that might explain why these bears weren’t afraid of people,” Brennan said.

Black bears are usually docile and do not attack humans; in fact, they are usually easily frightened off, he said.

“I’ve been up here since 1976 and we’ve never had a problem like this,” said Dermody of Camp Tahquitz. “Bears have wandered through campsites here and we go ‘Boo!’ and they run away.”

A paramedic from Long Beach who was at the camp supervising the Scouts treated and bandaged Bobby’s head wounds. The boy was stable and conscious as Scout leaders drove him down California 38 to the Redlands hospital, Dermody said.

At the time of the attack, there were 191 Scouts, 45 adults and 50 staff members at Camp Tahquitz, all on a weeklong retreat that is scheduled to end today.

The 640-acre camp, established in 1958 and operated by the Long Beach Area Council of Boy Scouts of America, is one of the largest youth camps in the San Bernardino National Forest, which attracts millions of visitors each year.

Bobby was one of 23 boys with a Scouting group sponsored by the First Presbyterian Church of Fullerton.

His 16-year-old cousin, Michal Chelsey, said she heard he was doing well, walking around his hospital room and assuring his parents that he is fine. “The doctor says he is lucky to be alive because he lost a lot of blood,” she said.

Bobby was interested in camping because his father is an avid outdoorsman, Michal said.

The Boy Scouts, haunted by the incident, dismantled the lean-to where Bobby was hurt.

On Friday afternoon, the Boy Scouts were allowed to swim and play games, and most seemed calm.

“Obviously, there are a few very shaky people here,” Dermody said. “But if Fish and Game says that the troubled bear is among the two bears caught, then we will rest easier.”

Dermody said he and his staff took extra precautions after the first attack, including making additional rounds to pick up food and trash that might attract bears. However, because the camp is primitive, it does not have cabins or other structures where the boys could have slept indoors, Dermody said.

After the Tuesday attack on Joshua at Camp Wasewagan, Director P.J. Wade made all the youths sleep inside the dining hall and cabins.

On Friday, Joshua’s best friend in Ojai said he was relieved his schoolmate’s attacker was found and destroyed.

“I’m happy they caught the bear,” said Joaquin Arias, 13, who attends Matilija Junior High School with Joshua, who received about 150 stitches. He said he and his parents planned on taking balloons to Joshua’s house to celebrate his homecoming from the hospital.

Times staff writers Maria L. La Ganga, Rene Lynch and Leonard N. Fleming contributed to this report. Special correspondent Lesley Hoffman in Big Bear City also contributed.

Bear Safety Tips

Black bear populations have risen even as civilization has pushed into their territory. Bears are attracted by the slightest odor and are increasingly tempted by easily accessible sources of human food, such as carelessly handled garbage or food-laden backpacks. The state Department of Fish and Game offers these guidelines:

WHEN CAMPING

* Do not leave food, pet food, or anything smelly or edible outside. Dispose of garbage in bear-proof cans.

* Sleep in a secure area, maintaining a barrier between you and any bears. Even a tent provides some protection.

* Keep campsites clean; wash utensils after use. Cook at least 100 yards downwind of your tent.

* Store your food and toiletries in a vehicle trunk or suspend them from a tree at least 10 feet from the ground and four feet from the tree’s trunk.

* Never sleep in the clothes you wore while cooking.

* Use a flashlight at night. Make a lot of noise when hiking.

IF YOU SEE A BEAR

* If it has not sensed you, slowly back away downwind. Running may stimulate a bear’s instinct to chase.

* If it has sensed you, do all you can to appear larger. Stand up and raise your arms. Open your jacket if you are wearing one.

* If a bear attacks, it is probably safest to ball up in a belly-down position and cover your head and neck.

* Counter-aggression: Some have successfully thwarted attacks by throwing rocks from a safe distance or banging pots, clapping hands and yelling. These actions should be immediate and may scare bears away.

Source: California Department of Fish and Game; Sunset magazine, June, 1993.

Compiled by Times researcher TRACY THOMAS

Bear Attacks

A bear attacked and seriously injured Bobby Clark, 12, of Fullerton, as he slept at Camp Tahquitz early Friday. The attack occurred only two miles from Camp Wasewagan, where a boy was mauled earlier this week. Two bears were shot and killed in the area later Friday.