ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A man died in a bear attack Wednesday night in the Hope area on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, Alaska State Troopers reported.
Troopers were notified at 10:07 p.m. of the mauling, the agency said in a report early Thursday.
The man had been clearing a trail about a mile behind his property off Mile 8 of the Hope Highway near Turnagain Arm, troopers said. The property is near the 19th century mining town of Sunrise City, with a population of 12.
“His wife became concerned when he was overdue, and their dog, which had been with him, returned home alone,” troopers said.
The man’s wounds were consistent with a bear attack, troopers said.
Cynthia Wardlow, Anchorage regional supervisor with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said that staff is assisting state troopers and the U.S. Forest Service in an investigation into the attack. They are currently looking for evidence such as hair, paw print measurements and scat to determine the species of the bear.
“Based on preliminary samples that were found at the site, we believe this was a brown bear attack,” Wardlow said.
Clay Adam, deputy chief of the Cooper Landing Emergency Services, said family and neighbors located the body in the area where the man had been working.
Cooper Landing Emergency Services was the first emergency response crew to arrive at the man’s cabin at about 10:30 p.m., Adam said. The cabin is about 350 yards off the Hope Highway, Adam said.
The scene of the mauling was about a 45-minute hike up a mountain behind the cabin, he said. Troopers described the trail as not ATV-accessible.
Neighbors with firearms who had visited the scene and returned to the cabin confirmed that the man could not have survived the attack, Adam said.
With darkness coming, and after communicating with troopers who had not yet arrived, emergency officials decided that no one should return to the scene until morning, when it was safer, Adam said.
“Three or four gentlemen said there was nothing we could do,” Adam said. “It was determined it was in everyone’s best interest to not disturb the scene until it could be processed appropriately.
“We consoled his wife, and got all the information we could,” he said.
Emergency services departments from Hope and Moose Pass also responded to the call, the Cooper Landing department said on Facebook on Thursday.
“Troopers will be investigating and recovering the victim today,” the Facebook post said. “Please respect this victim and their family and the troopers who are hiking in to this difficult, dangerous and tragic scene.”
The Cooper Landing department said bears have been active in “residential areas as well as at the Russian and Kenai River so please continue to be bear aware.”
Carol Lagodich, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Forest Service, which manages Chugach National Forest, said the agency will be posting signs warning hikers of an aggressive bear. The trail was on Chugach National Forest land.
The trail is not easily accessible, Lagodich said.
Troopers, the Forest Service and Fish and Game staff are working to gather more evidence and information about how and why the fatal attack occurred, according to Wardlow.
It’s early in the investigation and a determination will not be made “until we have a much better sense of what’s going on,” she said.
Most bear encounters do not result in injuries to humans, she said.
“It’s very rare that someone is injured by a bear and even more rare that someone would be killed,” Wardlow said. “It’s always a very tragic situation.”
She said it’s important for anyone active in the Alaska outdoors to understand bear behavior and how to respond appropriately because each encounter is different.
“A lot of it depends on very specific circumstances, like does the bear even see you?” she said. “Is the bear curious? Does the bear respond if you try to scare it off or does it recognize that you’re a human? Any of those things.”
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(Daily News reporter Emily Goodykoontz contributed to this report.)
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