Man attacked by bear is accidentally shot trying to fend off animal in Alaska

An Alaska hunter was hospitalized after being mauled by a brown bear and shot while trying to fend it off, authorities said Monday.

The bear attack happened Saturday on the Kenai Peninsula, southwest of Anchorage, Alaska State Troopers said.

The hunter, a 32-year-old man, was seriously injured in both the hijacking and the shooting. He and a fellow hunter opened fire and he was shot in the leg. It was not immediately clear who fired the shot that hit him, trooper spokesman Tim DeSpain said in an email.

The bear was killed by the hunters during the attack, officials said.

DeSpain said the hijacking occurred in a remote area off the Resurrection Pass trailhead. The circumstances leading up to it were not known. The injured hunter, whose identity was not immediately released, was flown by helicopter to an Anchorage hospital, troopers said in a statement. Officials did not release details about his condition.

According to Alaska Department of Fish and Gamebrown bears and grizzly bears are both common names for the same species, Ursus arctos, but the main difference is their geographic location. Brown bears typically live along the southern coast of the state while grizzlies can be found in the northern and interior parts of the state.

The attack in Alaska comes just days after a black bear killed and injured a 3-year-old girl in a tent at a private campground in Montana just north of Yellowstone National Park.

The incident also marks at least the second time in less than two years that a hunter has been accidentally shot during a bear attack. In October 2022, a hunter accidentally shot himself in the leg while trying to fight off a grizzly bear attack in Wyoming.