A woman from the village of Zălan was seriously injured by a bear on the street while she was heading to school with her son.

A woman from Zălan village, Bodoc commune, Covasna County, was seriously injured Thursday morning after a bear attacked her in the street. The victim was walking to school with her son, while the child escaped unharmed after taking refuge in a neighbor’s yard.

The attack took place at around 7:50 a.m., after authorities had already been notified about the animal’s presence in the locality. The woman tried to run away, but the bear chased her and knocked her to the ground. The animal did not bite her, but caused deep wounds to her thigh, hip, and arms through the thick jacket she was wearing. The victim was taken to hospital.

Gendarmes, hunters, a veterinarian, and the commune’s mayor took part in the intervention. After the attack, the bear retreated into an orchard and was not found again. Authorities set up a baited trap, while game wardens are monitoring the area.

Mayor Fodor István said that, in his view, any bear that enters a locality should be shot, not tranquilized and relocated. To ensure the students’ safety, the local administration decided that the school minibus would pick up all the children in Zălan, including those living on isolated streets. The incident once again highlights the risks of encounters with bears in settlements in central Romania.