Massachusetts camper dies in N.H. after bear scare

By Associated Press, 8/4/2004 10:58

SANDWICH, N.H. (AP) A 13-year-old attending a camp for underprivileged children collapsed and died after he was scared by a bear on a hike, authorities said Wednesday.

Antonio Hansel, of the Dorchester section of Boston, was hiking on Doublehead Mountain with a counselor from Camp Hale around 4:20 p.m. Tuesday when they came across the bear, the state Fish and Game Department said. Officials said the two ran away, and the bear did not chase them.

Fish and Game Sgt. James Goss said that as the boy ran he went into respiratory distress and collapsed. Authorities reached him about two hours later. He was pronounced dead at a hospital in Plymouth.

An autopsy was being conducted Wednesday. Goss said he did not believe the boy had any medical problems.

Camp Hale, for low-income children from the Boston area, is in its 104th year of operations. Its Web site says about 50 boys ages 8 to 13 attend the three-week camp sessions, whose goal is to enchance their sense of well-being and their potential.

''Right now our concern is dealing with the family and dealing with the other families,'' said Samia Hakim, assistant to the president of United South End Settlements in Dorchester, which operates the camp.

New Hampshire has 3,500 to 4,000 black bears, which naturally fear people and avoid them. Bears are dangerous when they become acclimated to people, however.

Rob Calvert, a Fish and Game biologist, said the last time a bear killed anyone in the state was in 1784.

He said the best response when encountering a bear is to back away slowly, talk and clap loudly and maintain eye contact so that it knows you are aware of it. It also is critical never to corner a bear.

''We never recommend anybody ever turn and run from a bear, which might trigger a predator-prey response,'' he said. That did not happen Tuesday, however.

Calvert said most problems occur when bears are fed by people, which teaches them to seek them out for food.

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