Colorado teen camper heard 'crunching' as bear bit his head

A Colorado teenager has described awaking to find his head clamped in the jaws of a bear that was dragging him away from his campsite.

The 19-year-old, a survival instructor at Glacier View Ranch summer camp, felt "immense pain" as he heard the beast's teeth "crunching" on his skull.

The black bear dragged the boy for more than 10ft (3m) before being scared away by other campers early on Sunday.

Officials say the animal remains a threat and are currently hunting it.

"There's four spots where its claws dug into me," he told KTVB-TV, while gesturing to the teeth marks on the back of his head from the animal, which is estimated to weigh 400lb (181kg).

American black bears generally avoid confrontations with humans

"And then it pulled me into its mouth and then it grabbed me with its teeth right back here.

"And when it pulled it tore the skin and scraped along my skull which was like the cracking noise that I heard."

He added: "The crunching noise, I guess, was the teeth scraping against the skull as it dug in."

Dylan said he could feel the bear's breath on the back of his neck.

He had been sleeping outside in a teepee alongside four other camp counsellors when the attack occurred around 04:15 local time (11:15 GMT) in Ward - about 20 miles (32km) from Boulder, Colorado.

"I thought I was dreaming for a second and then I thought this hurts too bad to be dreaming," he continued.

He fought back against the bear, striking it the face and poking its eyes, before it let him go.

He was taken to hospital with minor injuries, and came away with just nine stitches.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jen Churchill told local media no food or scented items had been left out which could have attracted the bear.

"This is really a bear that could be a continual threat to people in this community," she said, adding that bloodhounds were being used to locate the ursine raider.

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