A scary wildlife encounter involving the U.S. Army took place last week up in Alaska.
Two soldiers from the U.S. Army 11th Airborne Division were conducting land navigating training in a remote location near the training area of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s Arctic Valley when what is assumed to be a brown bear attacked them. Both soldiers were injured during the incident, but lived… and they say they have bear spray to thank.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game believe that the bear had recently come out of hibernation, and was being defensive about it’s territory when it attacked earlier this month. They ADF&G shared this statement in a press release:
“Employees of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) responded to the location of a reported bear attack Thursday, April 16, in Anchorage on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER). Two soldiers sustained injuries in the attack during a land navigation training event on JBER. They reported having bear spray with them to responding personnel. No bears were encountered at the site by first responders or ADF&G staff during the subsequent investigation.”
Sounds like the bear spray was, in fact, a life saver.
The pair of soldiers are expected to be okay following the attack, though the extent of their injuries was believed to be serious. Regional Supervisor Cyndi Wardlow provided this positive message directed at the two U.S. Army members, and said that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game are doing everything they can to understand the incident and hopefully prevent encounters like it in the future:
“We hope both individuals have a full and quick recovery, and our thoughts are with them during this time. ADF&G will continue investigating the circumstances that led to the attack and try to learn everything we can about what happened to increase public safety around wildlife in Alaska. In this case, having bear spray with them in the field may have saved their lives.”
Let this be a lesson that if you plan on being out and about in bear country, carry some bear spray. That’s been a topic of conversation in the headlines recently because of a video out of California that showed a hiker using… another bear deterrent method.
This person in the Los Angeles, California area wore bells as they walked the Mt. Wilson Trail. They thought they were being proactive with the bells, and the idea makes sense – constant noise should keep wild animals from approaching. But it’s not fool proof, especially in higher traffic areas around Los Angeles. When you watch this video, having bells on clearly didn’t help avoid a confrontation.
Fortunately, that hiker didn’t suffer any injuries. It ended up being a false charge from that bear.
The soldiers in Alaska weren’t as lucky, and it’s hard to imagine how ugly things could have gotten for them if they didn’t have bear spray with them. And just in case you ever find yourself standing a couple of feet away from a bear (I certainly hope that you don’t), it’s advised to stand as tall as you can and speak in a deep voice directed at the bear… and that’s if you don’t have any bear spray on you.
