A bear thought to be the one that attacked a teenager in Colorado has been trapped and killed, wildlife officers say.

The boy, identified only as a 19-year-old named Dylan, was sleeping outside Glacier View Ranch, about 50 miles northwest of Denver, when he woke up with his head in the bear's jaws.

He told how the "crunching sound" woke him up and that the bear was trying to drag him out of his sleeping bag.

The attack happened at about 4am on Sunday.

Jennifer Churchill, who works for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said the bear was trapped at the ranch around 4.30am Monday.


She said Dylan had seen the captured bear and that he believed it was the creature that attacked him.

Dylan survived by fighting back, punching and hitting the animal as his colleagues woke up, realised what was happening and also tried to deter the bear.

Eventually, the animal gave up and walked away, and Dylan was treated in hospital.

Image: Dylan woke up to a bear attacking him

Dylan teaches wilderness survival at the camp and, while his 12 and 13-year-old students had been asleep nearby, none of them were hurt.

He told KMGH-TV that he thought the bear had dragged him between 10 and 12 feet before he was able to escape.

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

Image: Dylan was bitten on the head by the bear, which is still at large

He also told KCNC: "I just started hitting the bear as hard as I could.

"And I found its eye, and I started poking its eye with my fingers.

"I feel really lucky - if I would have been turned any other direction, it could have gotten the side of my face or my neck."

Image: American black bears are not usually aggressive. File pic

Black bears are not usually aggressive but they will fight to defend their cubs and they are also attracted to tents with food inside.

Last month, a 16-year-old boy was killed after he got lost during a mountain race south of Anchorage and a woman was mauled to death about 275 miles northeast of the city.