Bear destroyed after attacking wildlife worker

A bear thought to be responsible for a savage attack on Tuesday, north of Thunder Bay, has been caught and destroyed.

The animal badly mauled a 24-year-old employee of the Ministry of Natural Resouces while she was doing field work near Wabikon Lake, off Highway 527.

The woman's male colleague managed to scare the animal away by stabbing it, ministry spokesperson Jolanta Kowalski told CBC News.

"The bear that was dispatched today had wounds that were consistent with those that had been inflicted by a co-worker, who was providing assistance to the injured employee," she said.

The ministry says the wildlife assessment worker was attacked in dense bush shortly before 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

An MNR crew cleared an area in the bush so a helicopter could land and take the woman to Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.

"The crew immediately contacted the MNR in Thunder Bay once the bear left the scene," ministry spokesperson Katherine Lyzun said.  Ministry officials say they are not releasing details about the worker's injuries due to privacy concerns.