A wolf bit a 16-year-old boy in the head near Minnesota’s Lake Winnibioshish on Saturday morning. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said it was the first wolf attack resulting in a serious injury ever recorded in the state.
The boy, who is expected to fully recover from the injuries, was lying near the shore of Lake Winnibigoshish in West Winnie Campground when the wolf approached him and bit him. The boy “sustained multiple puncture wounds and a laceration to his head of about 11 centimeters long,” according to a City Pages article. After the attack, the boy kicked the wolf until it ran away into the woods.
A reporter for the Bemidji Pioneer posted a graphic photo of the boy’s wounds on Twitter: Wolf Attack Wounds.
A 75-pound male wolf that matched descriptions of the one that attacked the boy was trapped and killed in West Winnie Campground on Monday, according to the City Pages report. The wolf will be examined and tested for rabies.
“This is an extremely rare incident and not normal wolf behavior,” Tom Provost, regional manager of the DNR’s Enforcement Division, said in a statement. “Because wolf bites or attacks on humans are so rare, they are poorly understood. These rare incidents have usually involved food-habituated wolves and have led to minor injuries but no fatalities.”
