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A woman was hospitalized after being attacked by a bear while fixing her hot tub, the Colorado Parks & Wildlife department confirmed in a news release shared on Wednesday (August 31).
The department said it was notified by Colorado State Patrol of a reported bear attack involving a woman in the backyard of her New Castle home just after 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday.
The woman reportedly noticed the lid of her hot tub was partially removed and went outside to fix it before spotting a bear coming out of a tree and charging toward her.
The bear, later determined to be a sow (female) by authorities, swiped at the woman, leaving severe lacerations on her arm and scratches on her back before the woman was able to evade the bear and get back inside her home to call 911.
New Castle Police reported finding a total of four bears, which included the sow and her three clubs, nearby after arriving at the scene and notified CPW, which instructed police to shoot and kill the sow.
The sow was tracked down in a tree near New Castle Middle School and killed.
CPW officials arrived at the scene at around 3:00 a.m. and were unable to determine if the sow or one of the cubs had attacked the woman earlier.
The department decided to euthanize one of the cubs and delayed euthanizing the other two cubs in the three given the proximity to a busy road and multiple homes.
The department then determined that only the sow was involved in the attack and instead tranquilized the two cubs and safely removed them from the tree before transporting the cubs to a CPW rehabilitation facility to be evaluated.
The sow and her three cubs had previously been spotted in the area but hadn't shown signs of aggression toward humans, according to CPW.