Officials still haven’t been able to talk to the hiker mauled by a bear in Anchorage Tuesday, leaving her with injuries to her head, neck and arm. As of Thursday afternoon, the 67-year-old woman, whose identity has not yet been released, was reported to be in stable condition but hadn’t been “medically cleared” for an interview.
The attack happened just before 2:30 p.m. about 2 miles up the Dome Trail. Chris Barazza, spokesperson for the Anchorage Police Department, said the victim was hiking alone when she was attacked by a brown bear. The woman called from her watch and said the bear had dragged her off the trail and she was having trouble moving. She said the bear fled the scene after the attack. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game was on the scene Tuesday and Wednesday but did not find any bears in the area.
Cyndi Wardlow, regional supervisor with ADF&G, said they won’t be able to piece together why the bear attacked the hiker until they can interview her.
“We hope that we'll be able to speak to the victim directly, because that person is the one who will have the clearest timeline of what happened,” she said.
Wardlow said new information about what happened will help the department decide what to do next.
She said the area where the woman was attacked is full of trees and undergrowth, which makes it easier to surprise a bear, triggering a defensive attack. But if the department decides the attack was predatory, or poses a risk for people passing through the area, there are a range of responses they can employ, Wardlow said. That could include anything from collecting more information and helping the public understand how to prevent attacks, to potentially euthanizing the animal.
“If it was a defensive attack, perhaps a sow with cubs, or if it was a surprise, where that bear was just trying to get out of the situation and somebody got injured in the process, that's very different than if we determine that an attack may have been predatory,” she said.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game collected scat and hair samples Wednesday for genetic testing to determine the gender and species of the bear. Wardlow said if they find scat from different bears, that could point to a situation with a sow and cubs. And while the victim reported that she was attacked by a brown bear, Wardlow said it’s also possible the bear is what’s referred to as a “cinnamon black bear.”
Wardlow said that the department did not find any obvious attractants like animal carcasses near the site of the attack.
Bear maulings in the Anchorage area are incredibly rare, Wardlow said, especially considering how many people spend time in the wild areas in and around Anchorage. The department investigates roughly one bear incident per year, many of which are not fatal.
“Most of the time, people are able to recreate safely in Anchorage without having negative interactions with bears,” she said, “as long as they take the appropriate precautions for their own personal safety, like bear spray and deterrence and just being aware of where they are.”
It’s best to travel in groups, make a lot of noise and have a backup communication device if you’re going into areas without cell service, Wardlow said. Keep your dog on a leash whenever possible to avoid your pet bringing an animal back toward you, and make sure friends or family know your plans. And she said it’s important to know that there will be more wildlife on newer trails, since animals haven’t gotten used to people recreating in those areas.
You can find best practices for bear safety from Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game here.
