Bear mauling

[Freak Out]

The latest here in Anchorage this summer. There have been a few in the state so far this summer and there have been many sightings in and around Anchorage.


Grizzly attacks teen bicycle racer in Bicentennial Park

By BETH BRAGG and WESLEY LOY

(06/29/08 08:22:09)

A teenage girl riding in an all-night bicycle race was badly injured early this morning when a bear attacked her on a trail in Far North Bicentennial Park, authorities said.

Police officers with shotguns escorted medics into dark woods to retrieve the girl, who underwent surgery at Providence Alaska Medical Center.

“One of the EMS supervisors on the scene said that in his 24 years of doing this, these were the most extensively traumatic injuries he’d seen,” Anchorage Fire Department spokeswoman Cleo Hill said this afternoon.

Hill said the girl is expected to survive.

Peter Basinger, a cyclist competing in the race who encountered the injured girl shortly after the attack, said the victim mumbled “bear” when he stopped to help.

Basinger waited with the girl for about 20 minutes until medics arrived. Emergency responders had to hike 2.5 miles from the South Bivouac trailhead off Campbell Airstrip Road to reach the girl, and then carried her on a stretcher across the same route to reach an ambulance on the road.

The girl’s helmet, ripped off in the attack, had been flung into the woods, Basinger said. Hill said the helmet probably saved the girl from further injury.

Officials declined to identify the victim.

Rick Sinnott, a wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game, went to the scene and said it could have been the same grizzly sow that charged two runners about two weeks ago on a nearby trail.

Police were called at 1:35 a.m. after another bicyclist found the mauled girl down and dazed on the ground.

She was among about 60 participants in a 24-hour race sponsored by the Arctic Bicycle Club. The team event began at noon Saturday and was to end at noon today. Organizers canceled it after the attack and were trying to account for all the other riders.

The girl had just come off the Gasline Trail north of Hilltop ski area and was entering the Rover’s Run Trail, which goes along the south fork of Campbell Creek, when the bear attacked, Sinnott said.

Most likely, he said, the grizzly was fishing for salmon in the creek and might not have heard the cyclist coming due to stream noise and strong winds roaring through the forest, he said.

Warning signs are posted in the area, although the city has not officially closed the trails to use.

It’s definitely not unheard of, Sinnott said, for a bear to charge someone moving by on a bicycle. In fact, the motion combined with surprise could trigger what was an “unintentionally provoked” attack, he said.

After the mauling, the girl used her cell phone to call 911 but was unable to communicate, Sinnott said.

Sinnott said he didn’t arrive in time to see the victim before she was taken to the hospital, but he learned from emergency responders that the girl suffered multiple injuries.

The bear bit her on the head, torso and thigh, Sinnott said. She also had a “sucking chest wound” caused by a puncture to the lung cavity.

It was close to 3 a.m. when Sinnott and two police officers emerged from the spooky near-solstice night to the South Bivouac Trailhead parking lot on Campbell Airstrip Road. Sinnott carried a 12-gauge shotgun.

The bear was nowhere to be seen, but the woods are dangerous, he said. He set about tacking up signs to warn people.

Mills, the police officer, opened a bag containing the injured girl’s bicycle helmet, which the bear had chewed up.

It was lucky she had the helmet on, as the bear attempted to chomp her head, Sinnott said.

He questioned the wisdom of bicyclists riding all night through bear territory.

“A midnight race along a salmon stream is probably a pretty bad idea when the salmon are there,” Sinnott said.

Contact the reporters at bbragg@adn.com and wloy@adn.com.

[oregonpackfan]

In Stephen Ambrose's book Undaunted Courage, he describes Lewis and Clark's men encountering their first grizzly in the Rockies. They were amazed not only by the size and ferocity of the grizzly bears, but by their ability to absorb gunshots.

In one instance, several of the men shot the bear at near point-blank range, yet the grizzly still kept charging. Only a barrage of a dozen well-placed hits finally killed the bear.

[Deputy Nutz]

Grizzlies have a bad attitude

[mraynrand]

Only a barrage of a dozen well-placed hits finally killed the bear.

Sounds like you need a 'well regulated militia' to take out a Grizzly.

[mraynrand]

I remember watching Animal Planet with the kids. They're up in AK and encounter a Grizzly with two cubs. The group of three (camaraman, 'reporter' and 'Grizzly Expert') are about 100 feet away. The 'Expert' cautions the others to stay back while he says, in a loud voice, "STOP BEAR!" Really, I kid you not. All three deserved to be lunch, but they came out unscathed - thanks to the 'Expert.' STOP BEAR, indeed!

[MadtownPacker]

Man, I got attacked by a German Sheperd when I was little but I couldnt imagine fighting of a bear. No chance against the bastard.

[packinpatland]

Man, I got attacked by a German Sheperd when I was little but I couldnt imagine fighting of a bear. No chance against the bastard.


You're right, no chance.
The only ones I know of, where you have a chance with.... are the ones at Soldier Field. :wink:

[Cleft Crusty]

If you are really interested in Bear Maulings, or Bears BEING mauled, I suggest you purchase 'Mudbaths and Bloodbaths' right now at Amazon.com. This book chronicles the Bears-Packers rivalry and was co-authored by perhaps the greatest beat writer in Packer history.

http://www.amazon.com/Mudbaths-Bloodbaths-Inside-Bears-Packers-Rivalry/dp/1879483440

[Freak Out]

If you are really interested in Bear Maulings, or Bears BEING mauled, I suggest you purchase 'Mudbaths and Bloodbaths' right now at Amazon.com. This book chronicles the Bears-Packers rivalry and was co-authored by perhaps the greatest beat writer in Packer history.

http://www.amazon.com/Mudbaths-Bloodbaths-Inside-Bears-Packers-Rivalry/dp/1879483440

Cool.....I just ordered one for $1.67 used.

[packinpatland]

If you are really interested in Bear Maulings, or Bears BEING mauled, I suggest you purchase 'Mudbaths and Bloodbaths' right now at Amazon.com. This book chronicles the Bears-Packers rivalry and was co-authored by perhaps the greatest beat writer in Packer history.

http://www.amazon.com/Mudbaths-Bloodbaths-Inside-Bears-Packers-Rivalry/dp/1879483440

Cool.....I just ordered one for $1.67 used.

So did I!!!!!!

[bobblehead]

awesome, I just sold 2 of those pieces of crap on contract to ebay for $1.50 each.

[Freak Out]

awesome, I just sold 2 of those pieces of crap on contract to ebay for $1.50 each.

You are in the money now dude!

[Cleft Crusty]

awesome, I just sold 2 of those pieces of crap on contract to ebay for $1.50 each.

You could use that money towards a copy of "The 25 Greatest Moments in Lambeau Field History" which now holds an impressive position of #405,234 on the Amazon.com sales rank.

http://www.amazon.com/Greatest-Moments-Lambeau-Field-History/dp/0979872901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214868515&sr=1-1

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Now this is a real bear mauling.

http://www.ptownbears.org/2graphics/front2008.jpg

[packinpatland]

Now this is a real bear mauling.

http://www.ptownbears.org/2graphics/front2008.jpg

No, that is scary as hell. :shock:

[Iron Mike]

Now this is a real bear mauling.

http://www.ptownbears.org/2graphics/front2008.jpg

No, that is scary as hell. :shock:


Homophobe. :x

[oregonpackfan]

Now this is a real bear mauling.

http://www.ptownbears.org/2graphics/front2008.jpg

Which one is Rex Grossman? :)

[oregonpackfan]

Expert: Girl was mauled on popular grizzly trail
3 hours ago
Loading... 4 Recommendations

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A 14-year-old girl mauled by a bear as she rode in a 24-hour mountain bike race was on a city trail known to be regularly patrolled by grizzlies.

Strong winds made it hard to hear. The early morning hour and salmon in a nearby stream made the location so dangerous even other bears kept their distance.

"Even black bears have better sense than to walk that trail," said biologist Rick Sinnott of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "They're as afraid of brown bears as we are."

City officials on Monday asked residents not to use the trail but said it would be impossible to enforce a closure because of its remote location.

Warning signs were posted at 20 trailheads that lead to the attack location. The signs urge people to find alternate routes, said Jeff Dillon, Anchorage's parks director.

The injured girl suffered head, neck, leg and torso wounds, including damage to a lung. She underwent emergency surgery and was scheduled for more Monday, said Anchorage Fire Department spokeswoman Cleo Hill. Her parents have asked that no further information, including her name, be released.

The race was in Far North Bicentennial Park, which borders on the 773-square mile Chugach State Park. The race was moved from the city's west side because of construction. About 60 riders were entered, making circles on an 8.6-mile loop of trails.

The bear attacked the teenager early Sunday in the 13th hour of the 24-hour mountain bike race. She was able to retrieve her cell phone from her pocket and call 911 at 1:40 a.m. Dispatchers heard someone with extreme difficulty breathing. The girl mumbled "bear" and the line went dead, Hill said.

Dispatchers called the number back. Another rider heard the phone ringing, stopped to investigate and spotted the teen off the trail.

The park contains salmon streams that attract both grizzlies and black bears. Anchorage residents accept and even embrace the chance to walk trails at the front door of wild lands, but they are warned to take precautions that minimize a bear attack.

"Once the salmon are in, the bears are on it at all times," Sinnott said.

The girl could not identify the kind of bear that hurt her, but Sinnott speculates it was a grizzly.

"The extent of her injuries was pretty severe," he said. "She had a lot of bites."

Grizzlies are especially dangerous if they're defending cubs, protecting a food source or surprised by something in their personal space. Black bears are less likely to attack if threatened.

To protect against bear attacks, people are urged to move slowly and make noise to avoid surprising a bear. Hikers are counseled to carry cans of pepper spray that can spit out a cloud of choking gas.

Bikers huffing and puffing don't hear as well and would likely be watching their front tires to avoid striking roots, not looking ahead for bears, Sinnott said. Biking would have been dangerous even in daylight, Sinnott said, because riders can rush into a bear's space on a narrow trail without giving them a chance to flee.

"The odds are great that if she didn't physically bump into the bear, she came up pretty fast," Sinnott said.

After the injured girl was carried out, Sinnott walked to the scene.

Wind made it difficult to hear.

"You almost couldn't hear yourself talking to someone else at 20 feet," he said. So-called "bear bells" she carried on her bike also would have been drowned out.

King salmon have begun to appear in the upper reaches of the creek.

"There's not lots of them up there, but bears patrol the whole creek," he said.

Bears walk down one fork until they reach the edge of the city, then walk back along the other fork, pausing at the best fishing places. Farther upstream, away from the mauling site, bear feces and salmon bones litter the banks.

"It looks like a bear highway, with off-ramps and on-ramps and rest areas," Sinnott said.

There are no plans to hunt down the bear, especially since no one knows if it was a grizzly or black bear. Sinnott said the department will hunt an aggressive bear if officials think it will attack again. They will leave it alone if they conclude it acted defensively.

[packinpatland]

From Fox News - http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,374002,00.html


This is our Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission at work. OK, here they are going above and beyond but they are an amazing organization. This Black Bear was in a populated area and they darted it to relocate it when it ran into the Gulf of Mexico. As the tranquilizer took effect this biologist, fearing the bear would drown rescued it by pulling it to shore. Tell me that doesn't take guts.

[Freak Out]

Ouch.

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/474305.html

Bear mauls Cooper Landing lodge worker


By JULIA O'MALLEY

(07/24/08 12:19:00)

A lodge worker was mauled by a brown bear at the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge in Cooper Landing on Wednesday night, according to the Alaska State Troopers.

The worker, identified as Abi Sisk, 21, of Utah, was finishing a hike, walking back to the lodge around 10:30 p.m. when she crossed paths with the bear, according to Beth Ipsen, trooper spokeswoman.

"She was only about 25 yards from the lodge when a bear came out of the woods and attacked her," Ipsen said.

Moments later, a guest inside the lodge heard what he thought was laughing outside. Then he heard screams.

"When he looked out, the bear was standing on top of her and it had her head in its jaws," Ipsen said.

The man, who is from Alaska, ran outside, hollering at the bear.

"It looked at him and then it ran off into the bushes," Ipsen said.

The woman was able to speak after the attack, but she suffered serious lacerations, according to Ipsen. She is in surgery today in Anchorage. She is in critical condition, according to the Associated Press.

This is the second bear mauling of a seasonal lodge worker in recent memory. In 2005, another 21-year-old seasonal employee was grabbed by a bear and dragged, but she fought furiously and escaped injury.

A call to the manager of the Princess Wilderness Lodge was not immediately returned.

[Packerarcher]

I remember watching Animal Planet with the kids. They're up in AK and encounter a Grizzly with two cubs. The group of three (camaraman, 'reporter' and 'Grizzly Expert') are about 100 feet away. The 'Expert' cautions the others to stay back while he says, in a loud voice, "STOP BEAR!" Really, I kid you not. All three deserved to be lunch, but they came out unscathed - thanks to the 'Expert.' STOP BEAR, indeed!

Actually that is the right thing to do,should you come across a bear unexpectedly you make as MUCH noise as possible. Also while hiking in bear country one should make noise so you don't suprise a bear. Grizzly or Blackie,most of the time they are more scared of you than you are of them.

[Freak Out]

Another one get chomped on...but battles it out.

http://www.adn.com/bearattacks/story/484087.html

[oregonpackfan]

Bear attacks inside Anchorage have people on edge
news-general-20080816-Bear.Maulings

Alaska Fish and Game biologist Rick Sinnott, front, and Sean Farley walk pas...
3 hours ago
Loading... Must Read?Thank YouYes 54

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Even in a city whose logo is "Big Wild Life," the summer of 2008 is testing residents' tolerance for large carnivores.

The problem is bears, black bears and bigger grizzlies. So far this summer, three people have been mauled in the city.

Some people say humans are to blame for the confrontations and insist that no bears should be killed because of the attacks.

On the other side is a growing chorus of people like Devon Rees, who want something done about the big bruins.

"It is pretty much unsafe to walk around at night," he said.

On one recent evening, Rees heard splashing in the creek near his Eagle River home and assumed it was salmon. Seconds later, however, a bear rushed at him from the woods and knocked him to the ground.

"I wasn't going to lay down and take it. The bear came and tried to fight me," said Rees, 18, who works in a meat store. "I started punching it in the head, kicking it and elbowing it ... I was boxing him using one arm to defend, one arm to strike."

Residents share the municipality — covering more than 1 million acres and with more than 360,000 people — with more than 300 black bears and 50 to 60 grizzlies. Aggravating the problem is that Alaska's largest city is snug up against the half-million-acre Chugach State Park, the third largest state park in the United States.

"Chugach State Park is a bear factory. It pumps out bears every year," said Rick Sinnott, the area biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

When those bears are hungry, they come into the city to feed on salmon in its many creeks and streams, and Sinnott said that is not likely to change.

"They are going to be cheek to jowl with us forever," he said.

Sinnott said efforts are being made to expand the hunting of bears in Chugach. The state park was off limits to hunting grizzlies for 30 years. Last year, three permits were issued but hunters were unsuccessful.

Killing all the bears is not a consideration, Sinnott said.

"It is a state park. People that use the state park, they want to see bears there," he said.

People using the city parks need to practice some common sense, said Dave Parker, a 25-year-old resident of Wasilla, outside the municipality.

"The bears were here before we were," Parker said. "You don't go swimming in shark-infested waters and don't expect to be bit."

Alaska Fish and Game has received 500 to 600 bear complaint calls in Anchorage this summer, usually from people reporting a bear on their deck, in a neighbor's garbage or running through yards.

A week ago, runner Clivia Feliz was attacked by a sow with two cubs in Anchorage's Far North Bicentennial Park. She had stopped to consider the orange sign with a bear silhouette that warns people way from Rover's Run trail, which follows a salmon-rich stream. But then she saw a bicyclist head down the trail, so she did, too.

"The sow found her and beat her up pretty good," Sinnott said.

Feliz was bitten on her head and neck and suffered a collapsed lung.

Six weeks earlier, 15-year-old Petra Davis was attacked by a grizzly on the same trail at about 1:30 a.m. while competing in a 24-hour bike race. She was hospitalized and treated for a crushed trachea and partially severed carotid artery.

Sinnott said he was surprised anyone thought it was a good idea to hold an all-night bike race in a park known to have bears and along a creek filled with salmon.

"I was kind of dumbfounded," he said.

There have been at least four other close encounters within a half-mile in the park involving a sow with cubs, Sinnott said.

The city closed Rover's Run trail on Tuesday. Sinnott said the sow will be killed if she can be found, not an easy task in the 4,000-acre park. Motion-sensitive cameras have been installed on the trail. If the sow is caught, the cubs are likely headed to a zoo.

"Most of the people who are attacked in town don't want the bear killed. They recognize she is a mom defending her cubs," Sinnott said. "We just can't let her live there because she will attack again."

The city's wildlife problem isn't limited to bears.

Mike Vogel, a 51-year-old insurance agent, was stomped by a moose in 2003 on a popular city trail. A year later, a moose charged at him near the same location, so the 14-year resident of Anchorage shot and killed it.

"We need to kill some of these bears and we need to kill some of these moose," he said.

Vogel accuses Fish and Game of catering to "bunny huggers."

"I think the pecking order needs to be re-established with humans on top," he said. "What other city in the world has pernicious wildlife running around in its city parks?"

[Freak Out]

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/502266.html

Bears in midtown now... :lol:

Grizzly hit by SUV on Gambell, shot by police


By MARY PEMBERTON
The Associated Press

(08/23/08 02:40:01)

One moment Howard Hawkins Jr. was driving to get an early morning cup of coffee and the next he hit a large grizzly bear running at a full gallop across one of Anchorage’s busiest streets.

“It is just unreal,” Hawkins said Friday, less than 12 hours after his 2002 Land Rover struck the bear. “It just happened so fast. I didn’t have time to react. I wasn’t even able to hit my brakes or anything. What stopped the forward motion of the car is that I ran into a big bear.”

Hawkins, 57, plowed into the bear shortly before 4 a.m. in what is the latest in a summer of close encounters between human and bears in Alaska’s largest city.

The male bear came out of the woods from one of Anchorage’s many greenbelts. It was struck on the Seward Highway near Cal Worthington Ford. The collision pushed in the front end of Hawkins’ Land Rover. The vehicle’s air bags deployed, but Hawkins was uninjured.

“The poor animal just came from nowhere,” he said.

He called 911 and got out of his car to await police. The bear, now angry and in a lot of pain with a broken leg, was behind the Land Rover stumbling around, roaring and growling.

Officers arrived within minutes and advised Hawkins to get back in his vehicle; he did.

At one point, the bear charged the officers, police spokesman Paul Honeman said.

The grizzly made its way off the road and back into the woods, where officers found it and killed it.

The bear was No. 211, a 15-year-old grizzly that was part of a state Fish and Game research study to determine how many bears there are in Anchorage.

The bear was trapped in 2006 and fitted with a GPS collar that showed it stayed mostly in one of two areas, including Far North Bicentennial Park where there have been two bear maulings and several encounters this summer.

One of the bears, a sow with two cubs that was believed to be responsible for much of the trouble, was shot and killed Tuesday. DNA showed that bear was not the one responsible for the most serious attack, on a 15-year-old.

The grizzlies come into Anchorage in the summer to feed on salmon and moose, said Sean Farley, a Fish and Game biologist.

“He was primarily looking for fish,” Farley said.

While the city’s black bears get more attention because they get into garbage, the grizzlies largely go unnoticed.

People using the city’s extensive trail system could be 50 yards from a grizzly and never know it, Farley said.

So far this summer, 18 black bears and one grizzly have been shot in the municipality in defense of life or property.

That’s a higher number than normal, said Jessy Coltrane, an assistant area wildlife biologist. Last year, that total was about 10 black bears and one grizzly, she said.

[mraynrand]

I remember watching Animal Planet with the kids. They're up in AK and encounter a Grizzly with two cubs. The group of three (camaraman, 'reporter' and 'Grizzly Expert') are about 100 feet away. The 'Expert' cautions the others to stay back while he says, in a loud voice, "STOP BEAR!" Really, I kid you not. All three deserved to be lunch, but they came out unscathed - thanks to the 'Expert.' STOP BEAR, indeed!

Actually that is the right thing to do,should you come across a bear unexpectedly you make as MUCH noise as possible. Also while hiking in bear country one should make noise so you don't suprise a bear. Grizzly or Blackie,most of the time they are more scared of you than you are of them.

Just saw this. Yes I know that's what you're supposed to do when you surprise a bear or vice versa. The crazy thing about this story was that they could see the grizzly and her cubs from half a mile away and just waited and let them come within 25 yards. Insane.