Just caught an APD alert that there was a mauling in the Bird Creek Area. Today was the Bird Ridge mountain race, so lots of people in the area.

Hope the person is okay. With all those people present for the race it's kinda like a buffet for bears. The athletic ones are tough and stringy though.

Troopers announce he has died.
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/201...-race-who-reported-being-chased-by-bear/

I was following this story as it developed and it sounded like he got lost on the way down, and at one point texted his brother he was being chased by a bear.

I did the race and had to leave before anyone knew of anything out of the ordinary. Then there was an accident on the highway coming back to anchorage. As if that wasn't enough, two fishermen near seward drowned today too.

A very bad day today. Pray for their families.

Damn...16 year old kid.

How sad. A 16 year old kid. As a parent I just can't imagine. The guilt of not being there and the thought of his final minutes alone and scared would kill me. I'll be thinking of them and their tragic loss and keeping them in my prayers. Just awful.

A black bear is what it sounds like.

http://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Bear-mauling--429297643.html

Great, not a single long gun at the race and a Park Ranger shoots the bear "in the face"... I thought they knew to shoot them under the chin...

More likely the ranger shot 'at' the bear.

They say the bear "may still be in the area..." deep thinkers there.

They have identified him as Patrick Cooper.

That is an odd name for a bear.....

Reports are they've found a dead bear in the area, no word on if its the one that killed the boy.

As a father I can't imagine the anguish the parents are going through. The whole family was there at the race.

I just hiked that trail a couple of weeks ago, you just never know.

Somewhat surprising that it was a Black bear.

I've had many bear encounters, mostly with "curious" Black bears. They were all quickly deterred with the spray of mud and dirt thrown in their face by a 340 Gr bullet shot into the ground in front of them..

I jog a lot for exercise, but never in bear country. RIP to the kid. Must have been awful.

Texted: "he was being chased by a bear"?

WTF is that??? Texting on cell phones ain't a defense.... whatever poor one might come up with. How serious was the "chase" if he could text?

Neither is running much of a defense.... facing down the bear with an aggressive strategy might have worked, or maybe not. Fleeing as a prey animal would just isn't going to work out well. Never, ever, run from a predator. At best, you might get away with retreating slowly, facing it.

But then, what does a 16 year old city kid know about real-country reality? It sounds like there was survivability potential there, that the kid was not educated to.

That's just heartbreaking, even from a removed perspective. From a parental/ family one, more so.

I've heard they believe it was a sow that had just given birth. If that had been the case, I could see where all the noise from the race would have mama quite agitated and the first person to come in contact with her would not fare well. Also found out my son's friend is the one that discovered the body.

Uhhhh.... that would be very unusual for a bear to have Cubs recently! They are born midwinter in the den. They would be far too immature for moving around and being noticed.

Predatory bears are typically male bears.


There was also a second bear mauling and death, in the Fairbanks area near pogo mine. Again another black bear.