The assault occurred within a 15-minute period last Thursday evening in Shangying village of Shulan city in Jilin province, forest rangers said.

Sun Zhihua, 46, a woman farmer who is still in critical condition, suffered six injuries to her head and two to her chest. She has undergone surgery, but is in a coma.

The three other injured people are also receiving medical treatment in local hospitals.

About an hour after the attack, police had fanned out into the neighborhood, but failed to find any trace of the wild animal.

A day after the attack, a group of school pupils saw a black bear, with two little bears, bumping into a paddy field near their primary school. The pupils escaped safely.

Jilin province banned animal hunting seven years ago and, thanks to a series of measures it has taken to protect natural forests and return lands to forest and grasslands, the local environment has improved markedly, resulting in a resurgence of wildlife.

Zhang Chuanjun, head of the Animal Protection Section of the Jilin Provincial Forestry Bureau, said pheasants, hares, roe deer, wild boars and wild deer had multiplied in number in the area over recent years. As a result, the number of carnivores such as tigers, leopards and bears has also risen drastically. Attacks on local residents by wild animals had occurred regularly in the province in recent months, Zhang said.

Yang Chunyan, an employee at the Huichun Nature Reserve, was killed by a wild tiger at the end of January this year.

On August 5, Ma Guoxi, 23, was assaulted by a black bear just 1,500 meters from his village as he returned from picking mushrooms on a nearby mountain.

Ma was in hospital for more than two months.

"Great efforts are needed to protect rare wildlife like tigers and leopards, but work should also be done to protect the rights and interests of the injured people according to law," said Zhang Lufeng, deputy director of the province's forestry bureau.

According to the Law on the Protection of Wildlife adopted in China in 1989, people who suffer losses or injury from wild animals under the state-level and local government-level protection, can apply for compensation from the wildlife protection departments of local governments.

The Jilin provincial government stipulated that city and county level governments were responsible for handling such related cases.

Ma Jinglin, father of Ma Guoxi, has applied for a compensation from the local government of Jiaohe city.

To avoid attacks by wild animals, local governments have warned local people to never go out alone. At the same time, local people are also urged to protect the wildlife.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2002)