Bear Mauls Man In Alaska After Being Fed Barbecue Meat

Do not, under any conditions, feed the bears. A man in Alaska was mauled by a bear this week after he fed the animal some barbecue meat.

Ken Marsh, a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Fish And Game, said that the camper “pretty much goaded” the bear into attacking. Marsh said that in addition to getting mauled by a bear, the man could face a fine for feeding the wildlife.

According to Alaska State Trooper spokesman Beth Ipsen, the man was at a church picnic near the Eklutna Lake Campground just north of Anchorage when he decided to go for a bike ride. The man, who had been drinking, brought some barbecue with him which he decided to share with a bear that he met on his path.

The man threw the bear a piece of barbecue meat, and then another, and when he ran out of food the bear started looking for something else to munch on.

Ipsen said: “That’s when it kind of went ballistic.”

The bear mauled the man but eventually left when it figured out that the camper didn’t have the same smoky taste as the barbecued meat. Thankfully, the man survived the attack.

The Anchorage News Daily reports that the man, who was not identified because he could be charged for feeding the wildlife, was found by park rangers washing himself off at a campground. Ipsen said that the man was pretty incoherent when he was found and had a hard time telling park rangers exactly what had happened.

The man was then taken to a hospital where he was treated with puncture wounds and scratches and then released.

Marsh said that the bear wasn’t a danger to anyone in the area and isn’t expected to attack anyone else. The spokesman said again: “The bear was pretty much goaded into this.”