Bear With Rabies Kills Two, Injures Six Others

From NEWS.com.au: Bear kills one, five critical

A FEMALE brown bear mauled one man to death and seriously injured seven others near the Transylvanian city of Brasov before being shot dead by local hunters.

In the first of two incidents, the bear attacked five people who had been picking mushrooms in a forest on the outskirts of the central Romanian city, police said overnight.

An ambulance rushed to the scene, and was also attacked by the bear before she ran into the forest, said Dr Liviu Stelea, who treated victims at the scene.

Five people "had multiple, serious wounds and were taken to the hospital in critical condition", Dr Stelea said.

Half an hour later, ambulance workers called to a nearby area at the forest edge found one man dead and another two seriously injured in a bear attack, Dr Stelea said.

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What�s got into this bear?
She must have been really angry at people and ambulances...
Or maybe she was possessed by Dracula?
It happened in Transylvania, Romania after all...

Update: second man dies and the bear had rabies.
BBC: Romanian killer bear had rabies

"Romanian television says doctors have started vaccinating more than 100 people who came into contact with the rabid bear or its victims."

[Edited on 2004/11/2 by Hellmutt]

Back in '87 I spent time in Transylvania following in the footsteps of Vlad Tepes, including the a visit to Brasov. One night the group I was with spent a few happy hours in a recreation of a Dacian village (From around the time of the Ancient Romans). The food was exqusite, the wine excellent and the 'Pine whiskey' was strong enough to power the aircraft that brought us to Romania in the first place

With wine flowing like water it was inevitable that Pisky would require a visit. So off I wandered in search of a toilet. As I was about to leave the eating hall I was accosted by a swarthy Transylvanian who said in a deep 'Christopher Lee' voice 'Look out for bears'.

Of course I thought he was taking the pee, and wandered off for one of my own. Returning with an empty bladder, I re-entered the hall and stopped off to chat with one of our guides. I mentioned to him what I had been told by our Dacian host - only to be told that yes, there were bears around and yes, they had been known to attack people. Needless to say, the next time I needed to perform my ablutions, I made sure I looked around very carefully on the way there and back


[Edited on 16-10-2004 by Pisky]

Just goes to show... you don't f**k around with bears.

From Second man dies after bear attack

A SECOND man mauled by a rabid brown bear in Romania died of his injuries today, a hospital official said.

The news agency Mediafax said the victim, a 57-year-old man who had suffered severe head and back injuries, died of an asthma attack.

One other man was killed and six people were seriously injured in the attack on Sunday near the Transylvanian city of Brasov.

A hospital doctor, who declined to give her name, confirmed the second man died today, but she would not give any details.

The daily Romania Libera cited Mihai Dumitru, head of public health in Brasov, as saying that tests showed the bear had rabies.

"This explains the aggressive behaviour of the bear," he was quoted as saying.

Hunters shot and killed the animal several hours after the attack.

Authorities sealed off the forest where the attacks took place, and announced that all animals showing signs of rabies would be killed.