Woman seriously injured in bear attack outside lodge in New Mexico

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - A woman was seriously injured when she was attacked by a bear which approached her and her husband as they were comet-watching on the deck of a northern New Mexico ski area's lodge, authorities said Saturday.

The bear Friday night came within a foot of the couple and then chased the woman before attacking her in the parking lot of the ski area on the outskirts of Los Alamos, the state Game and Fish Department said in a statement.

The woman was hospitalized for multiple injuries, including several broken bones, a collapsed lung, bite marks and scratches, the department said.

Los Alamos police officers who responded to a 911 call from the woman's husband shot and killed a bear eating trash in the vicinity, the department said.

A forensic laboratory will analyze DNA samples to determine whether the bear killed by police was the one involved in the attack, the department said.

Department spokesman Tristanna Bickford said bear encounters aren't uncommon in Los Alamos and that bears sometimes use drainages to enter the city from Valles Caldera National Preserve and other areas in search of food.