Tag: BearEncounters

A man with light hair and a light hat, dark long sleeve shirt and dark pants stands on grass in front of trees.

Bitten on hand, Alaskan still remembers bear’s bad breath 25 years later

It was the summer of 1996 that William Young, an Alaskan fond of wilderness and solitude, survived an attack by a brown bear.
A man stands in the snow with ski poles, his dog nearby.

How a man survived a bear attack during a morning walk in Seward

Almost five years ago, Ronn  Hemstock went for his regular 6 a.m. walk around the airport runway in Seward with his dog, Dax. It wasn't long until his morning stroll turned terrifying.

LISTEN: What I learned after an unusual brown bear encounter near Anchorage

Near the end of a 20-mile hike, former Alaska Public Media reporter and outdoor enthusiast Abbey Collins encountered two brown bears fighting one another.
A man and a woman pose for a photo near a lake in some green mountains

LISTEN: The night a black bear pawed our tent

The attack ended with a ruined cup of peppery coffee.

LISTEN: How a wilderness safety instructor interrupted a brown bear attack on her husband

Wilderness safety and medicine instructor Deb Ajango teaches her clients about bear safety through her business, Safety Ed, and she and her husband, Blaine Smith, live, work and play in bear country. Ajango shared the story of when a bear attacked Smith while the couple were on a walk not far from their home in Eagle River.
A sort of blurry image from a video shows a black bear on the side of a wooded trail.

‘Stop running!’: How this black bear diverted an Anchorage marathon

UAA's assistant athletics director ended up hopping on his bike and leading marathon runners around the black bear sow.
A close up photo of a large black bear, with a cub following behind

Wanted: Your Alaska bear encounter stories

In honor of summer, we want to hear your best bear stories from Alaska. And we want you to tell us what you learned. Is there anything you do differently out on the trail after your encounter?
A fat brown bear's bust

LISTEN: How to avoid a negative bear encounter in Alaska this summer

Despite negative encounters in the news, bear experts say, most of the time, bears don't want to mess around with humans, and they say there are some things you can do to keep it that way.