Bear attack
A grizzly bear mauling of a deer hunter in Southeast Alaska has brought to five the number of attacks reported in the northwest corner of the Alexander Archipelago since Aug. 7.

All of the attacks appear to have involved surprise encounters with bears at close range. None of the attacks are related. There are no indications the bears are targeting people.

But what can only be called a "bear-attack cluster" has heightened questions surrounding the possibility weak salmon runs in the ABC Islands - Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof - have put the bears on edge.

The area is home to a large population of brown/grizzly bears, but five attacks in a time spawn of under two months is unprecedented.

The latest attack came near the village of Hoonah on Chichagof only about 40 miles north of the first attack. Most of the attacks appear to have involved sow grizzlies - commonly called brown bears in Alaska - protecting cubs.

Details on the attack are sketchy. The U.S. Coast Guard, which reportedly picked up the injured hunter and a companion on Saturday has yet to publish an official statement on its role in the rescue, but KTOO - the public radio station in Juneau, the state capital - said it was told by Coast Guard Lt. Greg Isbell that the two hunters were "ambushed" by a bear while hiking in steep terrain.

"One hunter said they had to kill the mother to save their lives," the station reported. "Isbell said after the mother was killed it was still a tense situation.

"'The hunters had to continue to shoot warning shots at the other two bears to keep them away because they kept trying to close in while they waited (for) transportation,' he said."

The hunters' description would indicate the "cubs" were two-year-olds, possibly three-year-olds. Cubs of the year generally weigh 100 pounds or less and are no real threat to people. But bear cubs will usually stay with their mother at least two years and sometimes three.

Two years old can weigh up to 200 pounds by fall, and three-year-olds even more. Both are capable of surviving on their own if they lose their mothers.

The name of the injured hunter is not yet available. He was reported to have been taken to Bartlett Memorial Hospital in Juneau after being picked up by a Sitka-based Coast Guard helicopter. His condition is not known, but he was described to have been bitten in the thigh.