Black bear eats man's dead body in Humboldt County in California after he died of a heart attack en route to a water supply, said authorities Friday. The exact date of the incident where the black bear eats man's dead body remains unknown, but authorities say the incident is quite rare.
The corpse was identified to be that of 65-year-old Marion Williams', according to the Associated Press.
The wild black bear eats man's body - almost all of it - outside his rural Northern California home.
The bear was likely living nearby. Officials believe the animal dragged Williams' corpse to its den before the black bear eats man's dead body.
According to Humboldt County Deputy Coroner Roy Horton, Williams had a heart attack and died while he was walking from his trailer to a water source about 100 metres away.
The bear then came upon him and the bear eats man after dragging him towards a nearby den.
Proving further that the bear hadn't attacked Williams, official investigations revealed that there were no signs that the animal attacked and killed Williams before eating him. According to the Los Angeles Times, investigators used Williams' fingerprints, dentures and pieces of clothing in order to identify William's corpse.
"It looks like he collapsed and died," Horton said. "The bear comes along and sees a potential food source."
The bear apparently saw or smelt the body and dragged Williams away and later the bear eats man's dead body.
"The bear saw the opportunity for a food source and took advantage of it," Horton said.
He added that the bear stripped Williams of his clothes and fed on him for several days.
"The bear did eat most of this guy," he said. "He was about 85 per cent consumed."
Williams was last seen alive Oct. 8. However, it wasn't until Saturday that they reported him missing.
Authorities discovered the remains Monday after concerned friends reported Williams missing, according to Reuters. After not hearing from him, they also went to his property and there they discovered the remains of the man eaten by the bear.
After finding out about the bear eats man incident, officials tried to trap and euthanize the bear. However, they stopped searching after getting doubtful that the bear is still in the area near Redway, about 75 miles south of Humboldt, said Andrew Hughan, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
"We're not going to find the bear," he said. "The bear was behaving naturally."
"The bear does not pose a public threat," Hughan added. "It was just doing what bears do."
Horton reiterated that though the bear eats man, it had only been acting naturally when it thought of Williams as a potential food source. He added that black bears are generally timid and non-aggressive.
Authorities said Williams had been living alone and "off the grid" in Briceland community, located six miles west of Redway, which is why the bear eats man incident occurred at all.
Though the bear eats man episode in Humboldt County is a grim tale for campers, there is nothing to fear as wildlife officials in California reported that there have been no cases of deaths by black bears in the state.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
