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Report ID# 34269

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Sometimes it’s not the river that gets you!


http://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Rafter-mauled-by-mother-grizzly-bear--486591531.html

UPDATE: After mauling by grizzly bear along Copper River, rafter walks away with his life

By Leroy Polk & Derek Minemyer | KTUU TV

Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2018  

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - The man who survived a grizzly bear attack while rafting along the Copper and Chitina rivers Monday evening has been released from Providence Hospital, officials confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

The call came in to the Alaska Wildlife Troopers just before 5 p.m. Monday evening, stating that a couple had been attacked along the Copper River.

Tim DeSpain, spokesperson for the Alaska State Troopers, said the couple had been on a rafting trip from McCarthy to Cordova. They stopped rafting for the night and set up camp on Taral Creek when they reportedly surprised a grizzly bear - and it wasn't alone.

"The bear, a grizzly sow, had at least one cub with her, we believe," DeSpain said. "One of the rafters, the man, was attacked."

The bear bit the man several times before moving off and leaving the area. DeSpain said the man was picked up by a fishing charter in the area and taken to O'Brien Creek, near Chitina, and then by ambulance to Gulkana, where he was flown to Anchorage for medical treatment.

It's the third brown bear attack in a week in Alaska, after a man in Eagle River was killed a week ago, and another person searching for him was mauled.

Alaska Zoo Education Director Stephanie Hartman reminds would-be outdoor recreationalists that bear maulings are rare events, and fatal attacks even rarer. But, she said it is important to always be bear aware when entering the wild.

"We're very, very lucky to have the wild neighbors that we do," Hartman said. "It's just remembering how we need to act responsibly around those wild neighbors,” she said. “Make sure you're letting animals in the area know, whether it's moose or bears, that you're coming. So, if you're going around a corner maybe give a (claps) ‘hey bear!’”

Hartman said people tend to think bears attack humans for food, but that’s usually not the case. “They're not definitely seeking humans as a meal or anything like that,” she said. “It's just the unfortunate circumstances where they feel like they have to defend something, and most of the time, it's their cub or a food resource."

Alaska Department of Fish and Game says it doesn't keep a database of survived bear attacks, so it's hard to tell if those numbers have increased or decreased over the last decade. But according to our previous reporting, the Eagle River deadly mauling was Alaska's sixth fatal bear attack in the last ten years. Half of those have come in the last two years.

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