A teenager has told of how he was forced to fight off a bear as he camped in Colorado.
The 19-year-old, identified only as Dylan, awoke at 4am on Sunday to a “crunching sound”, before swiftly realising the black bear was chewing on his head.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said the teenager and his companions punched, yelled and hit at the bear during the incident at Glacier View Ranch 48 miles northwest of Denver. The injured teen was briefly treated in hospital and later released.
He told CBS Denver: “I woke up to a crunching sound and a lot of pain… the bear had a hold of my head and was dragging me across the ground.
“I found its eye and I started poking it with my fingers…it dragged me for about 10 feet before I was able to get it off me.”
Black bears aren’t usually aggressive but they recently attacked a woman in a popular hiking area in Idaho and killed two people in Alaska.
Wildlife officers are searching for the bear and say it will be put down because it is considered dangerous.