A family is dealing with losing a wife and mother after a deadly bear attack in Monroe County last night. Officials say Kelly Ann Walz, 37, was mauled to death by her pet bear at her home in Saylorsburg. Now, officials are releasing new information about what happened. WFMZ's Jackie Shutack reports.  A black bear is legally permitted to be owned as a pet in Pennsylvania. Last night, a Monroe County family owning one such bear endured a tragic accident, when Kelly Ann Walz, 37, was killed while cleaning her pet bear's cage.

>> TIM CONWAY/PA GAME COMMISSION: "She threw some dog food in the corner of the cage and then started working in the other section away from it, and the bear turned on her."

>> REPORTER: A state Game Commission official says Walz and her husband Michael had a permit to deal exotic animals, but it expired in July 2008. Just a technicality, he says, because the family did everything right in owning the bear, plus a tiger and a lion.

>> TIM CONWAY/PA GAME COMMISSION: "They had the permit since 1994. There was nothing there to indicate to us that any red flags would have went up."

>> REPORTER: State corporations records indicate that Michael Walz, a resident of the Saylorsburg address, is the president of World of Reptiles, Inc. Last night, numerous vehicles entered the Saylorsburg property, which sits at the top of a hill with a long driveway. A neighbor shot and killed the bear. He told us on the phone today that the Walz kids, ages 4 and 7, first alerted him about the bear attack, asking him to step in and help save their mother. The family continues to grieve in private.

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