Grizzly charges hiker walking alone in dense fog at Alaska national park, rangers say

A hiker was walking alone in an Alaska national park through dense fog when a grizzly and its cubs charged him, park officials said.

The 55-year-old man from Indiana was on a solo hike Tuesday at Denali National Park and Preserve when the grizzly attacked him from about 100 feet away, park officials said.

The man deployed bear spray, but the bear had already knocked him down. He had multiple puncture wounds on his left side, including on his calf, ribs and shoulder, rangers said.

The bears ran off after the attack, and the tourist walked about a mile and a half back to the park’s visitor center. He saw the park’s transit bus, where he found a person who could give him first aid.

“Medical personnel who were vacationing in the park and riding the bus administered first aid while the bus driver relayed the need for an ambulance to the bus dispatch office,” park officials said in a news release. “The visitor was transported out of the park by park rangers via ambulance.”

The man was taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital and was in stable condition. Park officials did not identify the hiker.

Park officials don’t plan to locate the bear involved in the attack.

“Due to the apparent defensive nature of this attack, there are no plans to locate the bear involved,” rangers said. “Female bears with cubs are naturally defensive of their young, especially when surprised. There is no indication that this bear is unusually dangerous.”

The majority of bear encounters don’t involve any conflict, and bears are typically seeking a food source or protecting their young.

People recreating outdoors in bear territory should always carry bear spray and know how to use it, secure food, and keep a safe distance from any wildlife.

At least 300 grizzly bears call the north side of the Alaska Range their home, according to the National Park Service.

This story was originally published August 24, 2021 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Grizzly charges hiker walking alone in dense fog at Alaska national park, rangers say."