Officials search for a bear that attacked a hiker on a popular trail in Anchorage, Alaska
Officials search for a bear that attacked a hiker on a popular trail in Anchorage, Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A brown bear attacked a woman as she hiked a popular trail in a hillside neighborhood in Anchorage, Alaska, and officials are still looking for the animal, state police said.
State troopers used a helicopter to take the woman from the Basher Trail to a hospital, police spokesman Christopher Barraza said. Her injuries aren’t considered life-threatening, he said.
The woman, who has not been identified, called 911 at around 3 p.m. Tuesday and told the dispatcher that she had been mauled by a bear about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) into the trail, in Stuckagain Heights, Barraza said. She told officials she couldn’t walk.
The trail is in the Chugach Mountains, which sit along Anchorage’s eastern border.
The woman spoke with officials by phone for about an hour, telling them the area she was in as they used drones to try to find her, Barraza said. She told them the bear ran off after it mauled her and that she wasn’t able to see which direction it headed.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game blocked off the area and is searching for the bear, Barraza said.
Anchorage, which is by far Alaska’s biggest city, is home to about 290,000 people. Nearly 350 black bears, 65 brown bears and 1,600 moose also live there.
“We’re advising everybody to make sure they go prepared when they go to do hikes and trails,” Barraza said. “Make sure you know what to do when you see a bear, carry your bear spray, stuff like that.”
The fire department wrote on Facebook that hikers should temporarily avoid the trails around the Stuckagain Heights area.
