County parks officials shut down a section of the Pacific Crest Trail on Thursday, after a woman was reportedly attacked by a bear on the trail and suffered a scratch during the confrontation.
“A female hiker encountered at Vasquez Rocks while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail at 11:15 a.m., when a bear approached her from behind,” Terry Kanakri, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Department of Parks And Recreation said.
“The patron alleges she stabbed the bear with a pocket knife and was scratched on her wrist by the bear,” he said, noting the injury does not appear to be serious.
The hiker refused medical attention, Kanakri said.
Deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department were notified of the incident, as were officials with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, he said.
“The trail has been closed by park staff until further notice in response to the incident,” Kanakri said.
LASD sheriff’s deputies scoured the trail from a helicopter and reported no sign of a bear, a spokeswoman for the Department of Fish And Wildlife said.
“As with any wildlife/human incident, we did send Wildlife officers to investigate and they are on route,” Kirsten Macintyre, fish and wildlife spokeswoman, said at 4 p.m.
“We have no evidence so far,” she said. “Not to say that it didn’t happen, we just have no evidence so far. We are carrying out our due diligence.”
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