Jason Jackson, an officer for the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency of Roane County, demonstrates a culvert bear trap on Friday, April 14, 2006. The trap, along with several others are being put out to capture a black bear that killed a 6-year-old girl and mauled her mother and 2-year-old brother, in the Chilwoee Campground located in the Cherokee National Forest. (AP Photo/Mark Gilliland)
By BILL POOVEY
BENTON, Tenn. Apr 14, 2006 (AP) Authorities put out traps baited with honey buns and doughnuts Friday in hopes of capturing a potentially crazed black bear that killed a 6-year-old girl and mauled her mother and 2-year-old brother.
It was only the second documented attack on a human by a black bear in modern Tennessee history, said state Wildlife Resources Agency spokesman Dan Hicks.
"There is a chance that the same bear would attack someone else, so I hope they do catch him," said Lynn Rogers of the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minn.
Black bears generally avoid humans, animal experts said. Rangers at the Cherokee National Forest, where the attack took place Thursday, said a disease, tumor or parasite might have made the animal more aggressive.
The 350- to 400-pound bear attacked the family at a waterfall near a campground after several adult visitors tried to drive it off the trail, Hicks said.
The bear bit the boy's head, then went after the child's mother after she tried to fend off the attack with rocks and sticks, Hicks said. The animal picked up the woman with its mouth and dragged her off the trail.
The girl apparently ran away, and about an hour later was found with the bear hovering over her body, Hicks said. A rescuer fired a shot that scared the animal off, Hicks said. Authorities said they did not know whether it was wounded.
Dogs failed to pick up the bear's trail in an overnight search, and authorities set out traps in the thousand-acre area around the attack site.
Both the mother and boy were in critical condition at a Chattanooga hospital but were expected to recover. The boy suffered a bite wound that punctured his skull, while the mother had eight puncture wounds to the neck and too many claw and tooth injuries to count elsewhere on her body, doctors said.
Authorities have not been able to talk to the mother because of her injuries. "She may not remember the attack at all," Hicks said.
Authorities would not release the victims' names but said the family was from Ohio.
Map highlighting Tennessee.
A six-year-old girl was killed after a black bear attacked her. Her mother and two-year-old brother, also attacked, were critically injured.

The nearly 400-pound bear attacked the family when they were staying at Chilwoee Campground located within the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee. The family was visiting a nearby waterfall when they were attacked.

According to rescuers, the girl managed to escape from the bear, but was found only an hour later by a rescuer who fired shots that scared the bear away.

"Allegedly, after the rescue squad found the little girl, one of the squad members fired a shot from a small-caliber handgun. We don't know whether the bear was hit or not. There was no blood, but it chased off," said Dan Hicks, a spokesman for the states Wildlife Resources Agency.

The mother and the brother both remain in critical condition at a hospital in Chattanooga. The boy's skull was punctured by a bite to the head, before the bear attacked his mother. The mother was trying to scare the bear away with rocks and sticks before being attacked. According to doctors, she had several puncture wounds to her neck, but had too many other claw and teeth marks for them to count. Both are expected to recover.

Investigators have not yet been able to speak to the mother because of the severity of her injuries. 

"She may not remember the attack at all," said Hicks, who also said that it was only Tennessee's second documented attack involving a bear.

"There is a chance that the same bear would attack someone else, so I hope they do catch him," said Lynn Rogers of the North American Bear Center.

Officials have baited traps with honey buns and doughnuts to try and catch the bear.

Authorities have not yet released the names of the victims. The campground has been closed.