WASHINGTON — Several miles of trails at Douthat State Park have reopened after being closed beginning Saturday in the wake of a bear attack on a hiker.
The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries tells media outlets that the attack occurred around 6 a.m. Saturday near Tusacora Overlook. A group of hikers ran after spotting the adult female bear on the trail. The bear attacked one hiker who became separated from the group.
The agency says a bear believed to be responsible for the attack was humanely killed around 4 a.m. Sunday.
The hiker, Laura Cooksey of Midlothian, tells the Richmond Times-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1MXArtu ) that the bear clawed her back and knocked her to the ground. The bear then bit her twice on the leg.
The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries said conservation police officers used dogs trained to track down bears to find the bear and are running biological tests on it.
Department spokesman Lee Walker tells WTOP that bear attacks are not a common occurrence, and that an incident like this creates a public safety issue. The department, he added, responded fairly quickly to ensure that the bear did not attack anyone else.
Virginia State Parks spokesman Jim Meisner says the trails near the Tuscarora Overlook were shut down over the weekend while the conservation officers searched for the bear.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
