Authorities are now reporting that the 16-year-old runner mauled by a black bear while competing in a Bird Ridge trail race Sunday has died.
http://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Bear-mauling–429297643.html
The Alaska Dispatch News and other news sources are reporting that a teenager runner was descending the course when chased and then mauled by a bear. Rescuers were working to retrieve him from the mountain late afternoon Sunday but he died at the scene.
Original reports said the attacker was a brown bear but it’s now reported that it was a medium-sized black bear. Another troubling report is that the bear was showing predatory behavior and stayed near the teenager’s body until shot. An officer on the scene is reported to have shot the bear with a shotgun slug, but it’s not clear if that shot killed the bear or if is wounmded and still alive.
Reports are the teenager had texted his mother that a bear was chasing him before the attack.
It’s the latest in a series of bear-human conflicts in the Anchorage area.
Three young hikers were mauled by a sow grizzly early this week in Eagle River.
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2017/06/18/searchers-looking-for-runner-in-bird-ridge-trail-race-who-reported-being-chased-by-bear/
