A Californian teenager fought off a bear that was in her garden and attacking her dogs.

Home security footage captured the American black bear and its two cubs walking on a wall outside 17-year-old Hailey Morinico’s home in Bradbury and her dogs running at them and barking.

The bear cubs retreated while their mother swiped at the pets and then picked up a small dog, before Ms Morinico ran at it and pushed it off the wall.

Speaking to NBC News, Ms Morinico said: “I was like ‘Oh my god, there’s a bear and it is taking my dog. It is lifting her up and off the ground’.

“The dog that the bear grabbed, she’s the baby. I have to protect the baby.”

The teenager said she sprained her finger in the incident but escaped from serious harm.

Black bears are common in Bradbury, a city that borders the Angels National Forest and San Gabriel Mountains.

According to Rebecca Barboza, a wildlife biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the bear was an adult, weighing in at an estimated 150 pounds (68kg).

Ms Barboza said the animals are common in urban areas near their natural habitats and “use it as their home range”.

She added that from the video it appears the dogs provoked the encounter and no action will be taken against the bear.

“The bear was protecting her cubs, she was reacting to protect her cubs and the dogs of course were reacting to protect their territory,” Ms Barboza told NBC News.

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