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Woman attacked by brown bear while hiking Alaskan trail

Alaskan authorizes said a brown bear attacked a hiker on July 18, 2026, in Bear Valley, Alaska. (Anchorage Police)

(ANCHORAGE, Alaska) — A woman is recovering after she was attacked by a brown bear while hiking through an Alaskan trail over the weekend, Alaskan authorities said.

The unidentified victim was hiking on a trail above Bear Valley, a neighborhood in south Anchorage, with another person and three dogs Saturday around 5:30 p.m. when the bear came out of the trees and encountered the pair and their dogs, the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game said.

“High winds and inclement weather conditions at the time of the encounter may have increased the chance that the bear was surprised by the hikers and their dogs, even if they were making noise,” the agency said in a statement.

The bear ran off, and first responders found the woman with non-life-threatening injuries, the Anchorage Police Department said. She was carried out of the trail and transported to a local hospital, according to the police.

Police used a drone to track the bear and ensure it was not coming back as they got the hikers and dogs to safety.

Saturday’s attack took place more than a week after another woman was attacked by a bear on the front porch of her Alaskan home just as she was leaving with her dogs.

The unidentified woman took out a shotgun to try to scare away the adult bear and its two cubs from her dog but was attacked and hospitalized on July 9, according to the authorities.

The bears ran away after being scared off by another person.

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