Rabid Bear Attacks Man in Pennsylvania

A bear attacked a Pennsylvania man as he walked along a trail in a wooded area Jan. 19, and authorities have now confirmed the animal had rabies. Andrew Neirer was walking from his house to a store in Jim Thorpe when the black bear approached, and though he tried to avoid it, it jumped at him and started biting and scratching him, WYOU reports. The state's game commission calls those "abnormal behaviors" for the species, CBS News reports. A neighbor who saw what was happening shot the bear, and its remains were tested. Neirer, who has received medical treatment and is expected to make a full recovery, says he feels bad for the bear.

"They really do not bother you that much" usually, he says. "They're hungry. They're starving. They're supposed to be in hibernation. This weather is weird lately. Hot, cold, warm, cold. It could've been a lot worse." There were just 4,000 black bears in Pennsylvania in the 1970s and now there are an estimated 18,000, leading to an increase in human-bear encounters, NBC News reports. "While rabies in bears is rare and a case emerging in a given area usually is isolated, rabies poses a risk to all mammals. In this particular case, male bears typically den alone therefore reducing the risk of other (bears) being exposed to rabies," the game commission explains in a statement. (More bear attack stories.)