An American woman was rushed to hospital after she was attacked by a bear while she was fixing her hot tub - leading to authorities killing the bear and its cubs.
A woman from New Castle, Colorado, went outside at 2am to investigate why her hot tub lid was removed.
Subsequently, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), she was viciously attacked by a bear that came out of hiding by the trees nearby her home.
The CPW said in a news release: "The bear, later determined to be the sow, swiped at the woman, hitting and severely lacerating her arm.
"The victim was able to get away from the bear and inside her home where she called 911.″
Following the horrific incident, the CPW notified the the local police, and requested they track down and kill the bear.
Consequently, New Castle PD located a mother bear and three cubs near to the home of the attack. And according to the CPW, they couldn't confirm if the sow or the cubs had mauled the woman.
Speaking about the decision, the CPW said: "The decision was made to euthanise the bears.
"One cub [and the mother] was euthanised. Given the location of the two other cubs in the tree, along with the close proximity of a busy road and several homes, CPW made the decision to wait on euthanising the other two cubs."
Reportedly, the bear involved in the attack was likely to have been a black bear, as grizzlies have not been spotted in Colorado for half a century.
The CPW estimated that there are roughly between 17,000 to 20,000 black bears living in that state. While their natural home is the woodland, due to the expansion of homes and settlements, more bears have ventured into towns in search of an easy meal.
Bears that are drawn to the smell of human food and garbage are much more likely to attack, especially if surprised, threatened, or protecting cubs.
However, fatal attacks are rare, as Colorado's last horrific attack was reported in 2009.
While bears entering human areas is dangerous for people, it's also dangerous for the bears themselves, due to the dangers of cars hitting them, poaching, and euthanasia in the aftermath of an attack.
