Maulings injure 2
Bear attacks close portions of Kenai, Russian rivers
Details are still unfolding for two separate bear maulings — one in Soldotna and another in Cooper Landing — that occurred this weekend.
A joint press release from the Chugach National Forest and the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge said a man sleeping in a tent was attacked by a bear at the Russian River Campground on Saturday morning. The man was not hurt.
As a result of the attack, the campground is closed until further notice.
Also, the Russian and Kenai rivers are closed from the Russian River Falls to the power line crossing on the Kenai River, including the confluence area, from 11 p.m. today to 6 a.m. Monday.
Another Saturday morning attack resulted in a hospital visit for an Anchorage man.
At 2 a.m. Saturday, Alaska State Troopers received a report that a mauling victim was taken to the Emergency Room of the Central Peninsula General Hospital in Soldotna.
According to a troopers press release, a 30-year-old Anchorage man was attacked by a brown bear, reported to be between 3 and 4 years old, while walking on a wide trail in the woods leading toward Gas Well Road from Commerce Street in Soldotna.
The report said the man was charged by the bruin, which grabbed him by the shoulder and arm and took him to the ground.
The man initially resisted, but then played dead, at which point the bear turned toward a second man on the trail, a 34-year-old from Soldotna. This man yelled and waved his arms, which drove the bear into the woods.
The man who was bitten was transported in a private vehicle to the hospital, where he is being treated for multiple puncture wounds and lacerations to the arm, shoulder, and head.
Troopers searched the area after the report but found no sign of the bear. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game was also notified to search the area for evidence of the bear and indications as to its motivation for attacking.
However, Jeff Selinger, the Soldotna area management biologist with Fish and Game, was responding to another mauling at the Russian River Campground when that notification arrived.