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Bear caught, killed near site of mauling

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 17, 2006

NASHVILLE - A black bear was caught and killed in a forest recreation area Sunday and was being sent to a veterinary school to determine if it was the same animal that attacked a family, killing a 6-year-old girl.

Authorities found a bear in the same trap where they detected paw prints on Saturday in the remote Cherokee National Forest Chilhowee Recreation Area, U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Sharon Moore said.

The bear, which was captured near the site of the attack, looked to be the same weight as the 350- to 400-pound bear that attacked a mother and her two children on a trail in the recreation area on Thursday, she said.

"We're very hopeful this is the bear," Moore said.

"It's basically the same size bear. There's truly not that many bears in the 5,000 acres we have closed off."

Authorities euthanized the bear on Sunday and sent its body to the University of Tennessee's College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville to determine whether it was the one that had attacked the family.

Animal experts plan to compare the bear with hairs that were shed during the attack, said Bob Miller, a spokesman for Cherokee National Forest and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

They also will look for gunshot wounds since the bear that attacked the family was shot.

[Last modified April 17, 2006, 01:23:23]