Black bear mauls 8-year-old boy

GATLINBURG, Tenn., Aug. 12 (UPI) -- A young black bear mauled an 8-year-old boy in an apparently unprovoked attack in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, officials said.

The boy's father, who drove the bear away by throwing rocks, also was injured, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported Tuesday. Park officials said that neither father nor son suffered life-threatening injuries, but they described the boy's injuries as serious.

A 55-pound male bear who resembled the description of the attacking animal was killed by park rangers. Bob Miller, a spokesman for the national park, said that a necropsy would determine whether it was the right bear.

The bear was probably born last year.

Miller said that the boy, Evan Pala of Boca Raton, Fla., was playing in a creek when the bear approached him. He and his family were near the Rainbow Falls Motor Nature Trail, a popular drive through the park.

About 1,250 black bears are believed to live in the park. Attacks have been rare with only 60 people killed by black bears between 1900 and 2007, the North American Bear Center said. Two people were killed by bears in East Tennessee between 2000 and 2007.