Bear Attack Leaves 21-Year-Old Swedish Elk Hunter Injured!


A 21-year-old Elk Hunter out with a hunting party was attacked by an adult bear after he ventured too close to it. The incident happened in a village known as Gåxsjö, located about 20 kilometers from Hammerland in the eastern Jämtland region of Sweden. According to Swedish news website The Local.se, the 21-year-old man, who has not been identified yet, was with three other hunters, as well as his dog, when the bear attack happened.

According to Östersund county spokesperson at Östersund police, Hans Ängquist, the man was attacked by a female bear which also had two cubs with it. The attack reportedly happened in the midst of an Elk hunt when the man’s dog started to bark at an Elk it had spotted. Reports say that the bear “appeared suddenly,” possibly annoyed and feeling threatened by the dog’s noise and attacked the man who was caught by complete surprise. It is also likely that the bear was merely protecting its cubs from danger.

Hans also reported that several shots were fired when the bear attack took place. He has however not confirmed if the bear was injured or killed.

“The man is reported to have fired two shots. It was one of the hunting party who called the emergency services. I know nothing about the injury situation but the man was alive when the ambulance arrived,” Ängquist said.

After emergency services had arrived on the spot, the injured man was transported by ambulance to Östersund Hospital where doctors confirmed that his injuries were not of a life-threatening nature. He is still recuperating in the hospital and is expected to be discharged soon.

Investigation on how the bear attack took place is already on. Officials have sent a police patrol team to the site where the attack happened. They have also started a search for the bears that attacked the man.

This news of a bear attack on a hunter comes just a week after the Inquisitr had reported about another eerily similar case in which a 65-year-old elderly hunter was mauled by a bear in Alaska. In this case, the hunter was deer hunting in the Alaskan wilderness when he and his hunting party were attacked by at least three bears. Unlike in this latest case though, the elderly man was seriously injured in the attack and had to be airlifted to safety.

[Image Via Huffington Post]

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