https://www.adn.com/alaska-new...eing-chased-by-bear/



A 16-year-old runner in a Bird Ridge mountain race was killed by a black bear he apparently encountered while descending the trail Sunday, Alaska State Troopers and the race director said.

A Chugach State Park ranger shot the bear in the face, but it ran away. Rangers and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game were still looking for the animal Sunday night on the slopeduring overlooking Turnagain Arm southeast of Anchorage.

The teenager, who has not been identified, was a participant in the juniors division of the Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb, said race director Brad Precosky. The close-knit Alaska mountain running community is in shock at the fatal mauling, he said.

"This is the worst thing that could happen," he said.

The popular mountain race is in its 29th year. The steep course takes adult runners up Bird Ridge, a familiar mountain that looms over the Seward Highway at about Mile 100.

Racers descend at their leisure. Juniors race to the halfway point, about 1.5 miles from the start, before heading down.

The runner had apparently made it to the halfway point turnaround and was on his way down when he used his phone to text a family member at 12:37 p.m. that he was being chased by a bear, Precosky said. The family member approached Precosky, who was then in the middle of handing out awards.

"I went off and talked to him about it, trying to get a straight story," Precosky said. "He was very shaken and had received this communication."

A search was launched immediately, Precosky said. The family member had GPS coordinates from the missing runner's phone that helped guide searchers to the area where his phone was. But the searchers, including runners that were part of the race, couldn't get closer.

"The bear was remaining in the area where the young man was laying," said Tom Crockett, a park ranger with Chugach State Park.

The runner was found about a mile from the trailhead about 500 yards off the trail in steep, heavily wooded terrain at about a 30-degree slope, Crockett said. It was not clear how the runner got off the trail, or if he had been chased by the bear to the spot.

A park ranger shot the bear in the face, Crockett said.

"It did definitely take a slug strike to the face when the ranger fired on it," Crockett said. "We know he struck it."

The black bear, estimated to be about 250 pounds, was alone, Crockett said. Rangers don't know why it attacked the runner. They are trying to locate and kill the wounded animal.



Crockett said bear encounters are not common on Bird Ridge. He hadn't heard any reports of bear sightings in the area during the previous week.

Pararescuers with the Alaska Air National Guard used a helicopter hoist to take the boy's body away from the scene, said Sgt. Nathan Mitchell with the Anchorage Police Department.

"This young man didn't do anything wrong. He was just in the wrong place," Crockett said. "You can't predict which bear is going to be predatory."

The Bird Ridge trailhead and parking lot will be closed until the bear is located, Crockett said.

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-new...eing-chased-by-bear/

...he used his phone to text a family member at 12:37 p.m. that he was being chased by a bear, Precosky said...

Wait...wut?

(Self if ever caught in that situation: "Text or run like hell...text or run like hell...")

Amazing coincidence, I'm in Anchorage wrapping a 3.5 week vacation. I went jogging here, Seward, Fairbanks, and Denali Park (not deep in the park, on a trail starting in the hotel area). Never saw a bear or moose while running, just rabbits and squirrels. And that pesky seagull who strafed me multiple times in a commercial up area south of downtown Anchorage.

This incident took place in a very rural area about 25 or so miles south of Anchorage on the Seward Highway. We drove by it going to/from the Kenai Peninsula but I don't specifically remember it.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-new...eing-chased-by-bear/

...he used his phone to text a family member at 12:37 p.m. that he was being chased by a bear, Precosky said...

Wait...wut?

(Self if ever caught in that situation: "Text or run like hell...text or run like hell...")

No shit.

And we are NOT diminished, the herd has been thinned.

I lived in Anchorage '09-'14, and fished on Bird Creek several times.

The trail between Bird Creek and Anchorage had two brown bear incidents in my time there:

hiker treed and called 911 from tree

hiker charged, emptied ak-74 (not a typo) into it, and killed the bear. Had to close the trail because too rugged, and worried more bear would eat the carcus.

Black bear outnumber brown bear near Anchorage around 6:1.

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Looks like he did not tread well.

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
Looks like he did not tread well.

Sheesh.

quote:

Originally posted by Alpine79830:
And we are NOT diminished, the herd has been thinned.

WTF?

Seriously, what the fuck are you saying?

I'm in New Hampshire visiting friends and asked if it's safe to go jogging since moose and black bear occasionally wander through their yard. I was told sure go ahead and run black bears won't bother you. So I run two miles, get back to the house, access the Internet and find out someone was mauled /killed by a black bear in Alaska. Needless to say I'm not running around here anymore

quote:

Originally posted by Alpine79830:
And we are NOT diminished, the herd has been thinned.

Please leave. Get out!

Just take your car keys and hold them in your fist as a weapon. Or you can ward off predatory bears with little bells on your shoe lasses. Of course if that doesn't work, you can spray a tiny can of pepper spray at them.

And remember the chance of being attacked by bears is so remote, it's almost impossible. And moose just love it when you approach and pet them behind the ears.


H&K-Guy

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:

quote:

Originally posted by wcb6092:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-new...eing-chased-by-bear/

...he used his phone to text a family member at 12:37 p.m. that he was being chased by a bear, Precosky said...

Wait...wut?

(Self if ever caught in that situation: "Text or run like hell...text or run like hell...")

I dunno what cell coverage is like there, but a lot of times when you can't get a signal for a call, you can get a text out. Plus, with smart phones, texting isn't farting around with your thumbs on a tiny keyboard anymore, it can be voice activated. Homeslice could have been running and "texting" at the same time, trying to get help, but as the park ranger said, "shit happens." Well, that's essentially what he said.

quote:

Originally posted by Alpine79830:
And we are NOT diminished, the herd has been thinned.

Excuse me, sir, but what the fuck is wrong with you?

What Rob Decker said. I don't think you are suitable to be member of this fine board. Maybe you need to have a conversation with Para up close and personal.

That young man was living life and not sitting on a couch playing video or wasted on dope. What a shame, prayers sent to his family.

quote:

Originally posted by Alpine79830:
And we are NOT diminished, the herd has been thinned.

Please explain yourself...because I don't like what I'm seeing.

Black bear attacks that result in death are very rare. He must have somehow surprised the bear much like the ranger last year in Montana while mountain biking.

We have a good population of them here and I see them quite frequently near the house. They are curious and like to rummage. Not unusual at all to have them come right up on the deck and look in the house. Cat or dog food left outside or bird feeders will bring them calling for sure.

Usually at the first noise or movement they are high tailing it back for the tree line.

But surprise them and you will be in a fight you didn't want.

It is very unfortunate that the young man lost his life. But, when civilization runs smack into the wild, crap can, and will, happen.

Another black bear attack the same day. Bears 2 Humans 0

Link

quote:

Originally posted by lastmanstanding:
Black bear attacks that result in death are very rare. He must have somehow surprised the bear much like the ranger last year in Montana while mountain biking.

We have a good population of them here and I see them quite frequently near the house. They are curious and like to rummage. Not unusual at all to have them come right up on the deck and look in the house. Cat or dog food left outside or bird feeders will bring them calling for sure.

Usually at the first noise or movement they are high tailing it back for the tree line.

But surprise them and you will be in a fight you didn't want.

How unbelievably sad, and extremely surprising.

Like lastmanstanding, we always have bears around, and I've never been in fear for my life unless I saw a cub, then I'd just get to safety as quick as possible. I've gotten the heck out of the way, regardless, and pulled feeders, etc, because we consider them more of a nuisance than a danger, to be honest.

Only once do I remember surprising one in my backyard "orchard" late at night, and we ran like the wind to get back to the house- I'm pretty sure it ran the other way, because we never really saw anything except something blacker than dark moving, we just heard it crashing through trees.

I'm a little shocked because this aggression really has never been our experience with black bear. When we go out to camp on the islands of Superior, the rangers will warn us about any problem bears, but again, they will simply close an island if the bears are problematic, and tourists/campers aren't getting the "don't feed" rule or if bears have become comfortable with people. Occasionally they'll trap and move, but we all know that's kind of silly. The general rule is simply stay out of their way, and they do the same. Heck. This is heartbreaking.

ETA: is it possible that these could be a hybrid with a brown? Do bear crossbreed? I understand those to be far more dangerous, and I have no real experience with them.