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The Mad Monk
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of Ice Cream
Mar 2000
time: 23:21
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Link:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/sto...10p-11648c.html
quote:
Bear grabs & kills baby
Family vacationing at cottage in Catskills
By CELESTE KATZ, JOE MAHONEY and LEO STANDORA
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
A bear snatched a Brooklyn infant from her stroller at a Catskills vacation spot and mauled her to death yesterday, officials said.
Horrified onlookers, including the girl's father, chased the animal away before a police officer killed it with one shot.
The bear attack on 5-month-old Ester Schwimmer came as her mother, Rachel, rushed her two other children — a son, Joseph, 4, and daughter Chayka, 2 — to safety in their cottage at the Machne Ohel Feige colony in Woodridge, 70 miles northwest of the city.
The baby had been sleeping in a stroller in front of the home when the rogue black bear suddenly came out of the woods about 2 p.m. and took her in its jaws.
The child's father was injured as he and friends — waving their arms and yelling — chased the bear into the woods until it finally dropped the little girl.
Moshe Katz, one of the would-be rescuers, said, "The baby was hanging from the bear's mouth like a doll. Everyone went to help, but the bear stood its ground until it finally opened its mouth and dropped the baby and a blanket that was around her."
But it was too late.
Officials said the infant, whose head and neck had been mauled in the bear's mouth, was pronounced dead on arrival at Ellenville Regional Hospital.
Wandered into colony
The Schwimmer family had traveled to the Sullivan County vacation spot — a place popular with New York Hasidic Jews — from their Williamsburg home.
State conservation officials said it was believed to be the first time a black bear — the only type native to the state — had killed anyone in New York.
Fallsburg Police Chief Brent Lawrence said the bear, a young 155-pounder, unexpectedly wandered into the colony of about 55 families, which was bustling with parents and kids enjoying the beautiful summer day, and touched off a panic.
"The baby's mother heard people yelling, 'Bear! Bear!' and ran her children into the bungalow," Lawrence said. When she came back out, the stroller with her sleeping little daughter was tipped over — and her baby was gone.
Isaac Abraham, a spokesman for the Williamsburg Satmar Hasidic community, said, "The bear grabbed the child out of the stroller and was dragging her to the woods.
"People started chasing it, throwing rocks and other stuff at it. Everybody was absolutely in panic."
Mike Fraser said Ester's father, Pincus Shaya Schwimmer, a real estate agent and rabbinical student, was injured when he ran up to the bear and blocked its way.
Lawrence said one of his officers got within 50 feet of the bear, which turned and climbed a tree. Officer David Decker fired one shot, killing the animal on the spot.
Ward Stone, the state's wildlife pathologist, said examination of the bear's carcass showed the animal had been "healthy with very little fat" and had no signs of rabies.
The bear had been eating berries, wild seeds — and apparently garbage because banana labels and plastic bags were found in its digestive system.
Although a witness said another bear was spotted in the area an hour after the baby was attacked, Stone said, "This is not likely to happen again for a long time."
Community in shock
Yesterday's tragedy occurred in the heart of what is known as the Borscht Belt, which beckoned to tourists and big-name stars in the post-World War II era.
Big hotels and bungalows attracted thousands of visitors each summer, many of them Jewish families from the city.
Abraham said the bungalow colony was shrouded in grief yesterday, with many weeping and praying well into the night. Others packed their cars and vans and left.
"The shock in this community is unbelievable. From the cradle to the grave, people make 70, 80 years," he said sadly. "This child barely made it five months."
He said Ester's parents planned to bury her last night in New Brunswick, N.J., he said.
Ester's grandfather, Mendel Schwimmer, of Kiryas Joel in Orange County, is a well-known figure in the upstate Orthodox community and an acquaintance of Gov. Pataki's.
"The governor does know the grandfather, and he will be reaching out to the family at the appropriate time to express his condolences," a spokeswoman said last night.
More than 150 mourners attended a service for the little girl in Kiryas Joel last night.
In Brooklyn, Rene Bernstein, 44, who lives in the same Keap St. brownstone as the Schwimmers, said the close-knit family always looked forward to summer vacation in the Catskills because "it was a great opportunity to let the kids play without any worry."
Lawrence said his department usually gets about a dozen calls each summer about bears getting into the trash.
"I'm going on 30 years here," he said, "and I've never known anything to even come close to this."
With Tamer El-Ghobashy
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Anyone up for a bear hunt? 
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20-08-2002 15:37
Actually we should kill all horses too! Death to horses as they must all killed countless people over the years!
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