Camping teens mauled by grizzly bear in Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A grizzly that was with her cub attacked a group of seven teens participating in a survival skills course, badly injuring two in the group. reports local CBS affiliate KTVA.

The teens were towards the end of a 30-day backcountry course by the National Outdoor Leadership School when the attack occurred Saturday night about 120 miles north of Anchorage. They were rescued early Sunday.

NOLS spokesman Bruce Palmer says another group of seven students and three instructors has been waiting about six miles away for a helicopter hired by the Lander, Wyo.-based organization.

Palmer says 17-year-old Joshua Berg of New City, N.Y., and 17-year-old Samuel Gottsegen of Denver were the worst injured with bear bite wounds.

KTVA reports that the two are in serious condition at an Anchorage hospital.

Teens told troopers that the bear was first spotted around 8:30 p.m. Saturday while crossing a river single file, KTVA reports. Those at the front of the line screamed the news of the approaching bear to those at the back. Troopers said that the two teens at the front of the line received the brunt of the bear attack.

National Geographic describes grizzly bears, a subspecies of the North American brown bear, as "powerful, top-of-the-food-chain predators, yet much of their diet consists of nuts, berries, fruit, leaves, and roots. Bears also eat other animals, from rodents to moose. Despite their impressive size, grizzlies are quite fast and have been clocked at 30 miles an hour. They can be dangerous to humans, particularly if surprised or if humans come between a mother and her cubs."

[BillsCatz]

ACK, ACK, ACK! ACK-ACK-ACK! ACKACK, ACK, ACKACKACK, ACK! ACK-ACK, ACK, ACKACK!

That's what the bear heard just before she wailed the crap out of these kids. Don't want to get dope-slapped by bears? Then stay away from them.

All you wannabe gun-toting killers need to give your necks a rest. For real, fellas, you sound like eight year-olds making remarks about what might happen if and not a one of you ever been in that exact situation... "Oh, geeze, headlight is out, better get a gun!" "TV broke, I'm going to get my gun!" "There's a badger 30 miles away, better grab the .308!" "Ain't got it up in a few years, but I can still shoot!"

What the rest of us hear when people who weren't even there start blatting about their guns: ACK, ACK, ACK! ACK-ACK-ACK! ACKACK, ACK, ACKACKACK, ACK! ACK-ACK, ACK, ACKACK!

[documemts]

Good comment Bill! "ACK,ACK,ACK" Wasn't that the sound those aliens made in that movie, "Mars Attacks!"?

[cbvill72]

You've added nothing intelligent to the discussion.
From your insight, I get the following. People should:
1. Never go out in the woods ever, especially where there could be bears.
2. Never own a gun of any kind because all guns are bad.
Thanks for adding virtually nothing to the discussion except to advertise that you seem to be happy that a bear "wailed the crap out of them"
One can also glean that you are not a writer from your entry. :)

[longtree-2009]

when deliberately in bear country, it's stupid to walk around unarmed with a weapon that can take down an attacking bear. equally stupid if one does not know how to use said weapon. wonder what leadership capacity these teens were training for, special ops, commando, or was it just all chest thumping?

[Jim1900]

17 year olds carrying loaded guns, and they would have to be within easy reach to do any good, would cause more deaths than anything the bears could do.

[pwgrant]

jim1900 - a claim with NO factual basis.

[Jaylah54]

Ooops, never mind. It was just Sarah, out on a moose hunt. Scary for sure, but harmless.

[NewsScanner247]

Wow. The comments here are SO helpful! What an amazing group of news readers! And you're probably all from Alaska too! -- not.

[mylilelar]

They're so cute when they are little.

[AZDarkblade]

Wow. Scary stuff. Glad it was not a fatality. Wondering just how bad it was. Pretty much wraps up the desire to do stuff like that ever again I'm sure. Wow. I've not the least desire to go into bear country. And that includes most camping spots. No thank you.

[commenter777]

Not carrying bear spray into grizzly bear country is equivalent to going swimming in shark infested waters wearing a meat suit. The instructors are to blame if the children had no defense against mother bears.

[commenter777]

Be careful to aim it at the grizzly's face. A friend of mine had the can aimed the wrong way and sprayed his own face. On the positive side he didn't have to see the grizzly tear his arm off at the socket and eat it. Be careful out there.

[AZDarkblade]

Newster1? Bears habitat used to be this whole country. Why are you living here if that's how you feel?

[commenter777]

Did they not have Bear pepper spray handy?

[commenter777]

I am a survival skills pro. The Bear pepper spray really works and it does no long term damage to the animal. If you don't believe it works, try some out on yourself and you'll see that if you spray it into the bear's face you'll have enough time to run like H. good luck out there.

[bloatfly]

Instructors are not to blame here. It's a 30 day course, students were on day 24 and hiking without instructors which is standard. By that time, they had learned all the skill necessary to travel independently and considering that they were rescued in less than 24 hours, it sounds like they handled the bad situation well. NOLS does an excellent job minimizing risks on course, their track record is superb. Unfortunately, this time some students got hurt. It's not the first time and won't be the last time.

[mecanik-2009]

No firearms equals no protection. They were in an area that had bears. Seems stupid to me. I know carrying a firearm is a politically incorrect thing to do but keeping yourself alive is more important then being politically correct. If it attacks you then kill it. To heck with the liberal thinking.

[commenter777]

Not carrying bear spray into grizzly bear country is equivalent to going swimming in shark infested waters wearing a meat suit. The instructors are to blame if the children had no defense against mother bears.

[myopinionpal]

On a recent Bojangles commercial it said that if have two Bojangles country ham biscuits and come across a grizzly bear you are to eat both biscuits and die happy!!!!

[documemts]

Now we're getting somewhere.