Brown bear mauls woman on popular hiking trail as bear-hunt launched
A brown bear has attacked a woman as she hiked on a popular trail in Alaska's Chugach Mountains, and officials are still looking for the animal, state police said.
Listen to this article
The woman was attacked on Tuesday afternoon while hiking the Basher trail on Alaska’s Chugach Mountain range, which sports the most frequently climbed mountains and most popular trailheads in the area.
Alaska state troopers used a helicopter to take the woman off the Basher Trail to a hospital, Anchorage Police spokesperson Christopher Barraza said.
“We just found the person. And they are being evacuated to the hospital right now," Barraza said Tuesday afternoon.
The woman, who has not been identified, called emergency services and told the dispatcher that she had been mauled by a bear about two miles into the trail, Mr Barraza said.
She told officials she could not walk, but Mr Barraza later confirmed her injuries are considered non-life-threatening.
Read more: Families of Air India crash victims 'sent wrong bodies' in bungled repatriation
The woman talked with officials over the phone for about an hour, telling them the area she was in as they used drones to try to find her.
“She’s not able to walk, and they were having trouble locating her,” he said. “She called us, she was on the phone with us the entire time.”
"After the bear had mauled her, she said it ran off and she was unable to see which direction it went," he said.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game blocked off the area and is searching for the bear, he said.
"We're advising everybody to make sure they go prepared when they go to do hikes and trails," Mr Barraza said.
"Make sure you know what to do when you see a bear, carry your bear spray, stuff like that."
The Anchorage Fire Department wrote in a post on Facebook that hikers should temporarily avoid the trails around the Stuckagain Heights area.