Woman walks for help after bear attack in Alaska
By MARK THIESSEN
1 hour ago
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (AP) — Bloodied and
dazed after being slashed by the claws of a brown bear, a woman
struggled to walk 2 miles along a curvy, hilly trail to find someone to
help her.
The woman, who has asked that her identity not be
released, was hospitalized in stable condition Monday, a day after the
attack on an Anchorage military base, officials said. She suffered
lacerations to her neck, arms and legs.
Authorities don't know how long she lay there after the attack. At some point, the blood-covered woman was able to start up the rough terrain for the road, about 2 miles away.
"The survival instinct for that woman is phenomenal," Sledge said. "The trauma that she went through and the walk out was heroic."
The
woman was jogging with her soldier husband Sunday morning on the
northwestern part of the sprawling Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The
couple became separated, and as she jogged down a hill near a bend, she
came upon a bear leaving a trail at the same time.
Air
Force Maj. Angela Webb said they startled each other, and the bear,
with two cubs in tow, assumed a defensive position in the largely
wooded, remote area.
"The bear
attacked her, defending her babies, seeing her as a threat," said Mark
Sledge, senior conservation law enforcement officer at the base.
The
bear knocked down the woman and took at least one swipe at her.
Officials still haven't interviewed the woman and don't know if she was
knocked unconscious or played dead until the animal left the area.
Playing dead is the appropriate response when meeting a female bear
protecting cubs, Sledge said.Authorities don't know how long she lay there after the attack. At some point, the blood-covered woman was able to start up the rough terrain for the road, about 2 miles away.
"The survival instinct for that woman is phenomenal," Sledge said. "The trauma that she went through and the walk out was heroic."
A
soldier driving in the area saw the woman and rushed her to the base
hospital. From there, she was transferred to the Alaska Native Medical
Center.
Meanwhile, her husband knew nothing of the attack. He had
gotten ahead of her while jogging and went back looking for her before
base security picked him up and took him to the hospital.
Sledge
estimated the bear to be between 7 and 8 feet tall based on the 7-inch
size of the rear paw pads. He said the woman is lucky to be alive.
The
Alaska Department of Fish and Game recommended the recreation areas
near the attack site be closed for a week to give the bear time to clear
out.
Sledge reminded people
to be aware of their surroundings, because spring in Alaska can be
dangerous. It's a time when wildlife such as bears and moose will
aggressively defend their young.
The
joint Army and Air Force base covers 75,000 acres within the municipal
limits of Anchorage. Some of the base is not fenced, allowing bears and
moose to travel freely between base land and forest land surrounding the
Chugach Mountains.
Based on
past studies, officials estimated that up to 40 brown bears and up to
300 black bears migrate through the base seasonally, Sledge said.
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