A man was mauled by a bear near the South Fork of Eagle River Saturday morning, according to officials. He is the second person attacked by a bear in the Anchorage area in under a week.
Timothy Gurnett, a ranger with Chugach State Park, said the most recent mauling happened on an unmaintained trail close to South Fork’s confluence with Eagle River. He said the hiker was walking his dog off leash and likely startled a bear feeding on salmon.
“The ambient noise from the river probably made it hard for the bear to hear this individual walking,” he said.
The hiker had injuries to his arm and hand that are not life threatening, Gurnett said. He was able to walk roughly a mile out of the area and call for help around 9:15 a.m. Multiple agencies responded, and the man was taken to the hospital.
Gurnett said the parks department used a drone to search for the bear, but did not find it.
“We believe this was a defensive attack, and we are not pursuing this bear any further,” he said.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game staff recently spoke with the man in the hospital, according to wildlife biologist Cory Stantorf. They believe he was mauled by a brown bear with at least one cub. Stantorf said the man told him that his dog was walking a little way ahead of him on the trail, downstream from Barbara Falls.
“The sow saw the dog and the victim and charged the victim, knocking him to the ground,” Stantorf said.
Stantorf said the hiker deployed bear spray once.
“And the bear kind of walked off,” he said. “And then it turned around and took a couple steps toward him, and so he fired another shot of bear spray, and then the bear turned around and left into the woods.”
Stantorf said the man’s dog was not injured in the mauling.
Last Tuesday, a woman was taken to the hospital with injuries after she was mauled by a bear in Anchorage on the Dome trail.
Bear maulings in the Anchorage area are relatively rare, but the number can vary widely each year, Stantorf said.
“A lot of it is just unfortunate timing where the bear and the person are at the same place at the same time,” he said. “It really depends from year to year, because we can go five years and not have any bear-made-contact and then all of a sudden, for whatever reason, we have two in less than a week. Does it mean that we have any more bears out there? Not necessarily.”
Stantorf said, right now, salmon are a huge food source for bears and they will concentrate at salmon streams in the area.
One of his main messages to area hikers: “Choose trails that aren't close to salmon-bearing streams."
He also recommends that people travel in groups, don’t wear headphones, make noise and carry bear deterrent. Plus, make sure to have a backup communication device if you’re going into areas without cell service and tell someone about your travel plans.
