GORGIL VALDEZ, France — A 70-year-old French hunter suffered a “serious” bite to his arm in the town of Gorgérez, near the Swiss border, on Friday morning, when a bear bit his arm while he was checking her paws, according to a post on the local Red Cross Facebook page.
According to the post, the hunter’s hand was bitten in three places, as well as his forearm and wrist.
The hunter was immediately airlifted to a local hospital, and after being administered first aid he was transferred to a regional hospital in Montpellier where he is currently being treated for his wounds. His injuries are described as serious.
Police told the French newspaper La Croix that the bear knocked the hunter off of his mount while he was checking her paws. At the time, the bear, which was about 500 to 600 kilograms, was “preying on ducklings at the moat of a pond.”
There have been more than 50 bear attacks on humans in France in recent years. More than 80 bear incidents have been reported in Switzerland.
France has some of the strictest bear regulations in Europe, with no hunting currently permitted in the country.