PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY, Russia — A Russian man and his daughter were killed and likely eaten by a brown bear on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula over the weekend, RFE/RL’s Russian Service reports.
The bear reportedly attacked the two tourists camping on the Paratunka River on August 13. The bear attacked the man first and his 19-year-old daughter managed to phone local forest rangers to seek help.
But when the rangers arrived the bear had killed the father and the young woman.
Local environmental agency officials shot dead the bear and her three small cubs. They explained that if the cubs had tasted human flesh they might attack people again in the future, and thus had to be destroyed.
It was the first time this year that a bear had attacked a human in the Far East province of Kamchatka. In several similar cases earlier this year people managed to frighten away bears that had entered their yards.
Kamchatka’s bear population is estimated at about 18,000. Environmental officials said they have shot 16 so far this year.
Read more in Russian here