Bear mauls Alaska man who fed it barbecue meat

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A black bear mauled a man at a campground in Alaska, but the animal won't likely threaten other people, the state Department of Fish and Game said.

Spokesman Ken Marsh said the bear was "pretty much goaded" into the attack Saturday near Eklutna Lake Campground north of Anchorage because the man fed it meat from a church barbecue, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

The man could be charged with illegally feeding wildlife, according to Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen. He had been drinking and went for a bike ride, taking some of the food along, she said. The man came across the bear and threw it a piece of meat. He then offered the bear another piece.

"That's when it kind of went ballistic," Ipsen said.

Park rangers later found the bloodied man washing himself off at the campground, Marsh said.

"He wasn't terribly coherent," he said. "He was unsure of where the attack actually happened."

The man was treated for punctures wounds and scratches at an Anchorage hospital. His name was not immediately released.

Authorities are still trying to sort out what happened, Ipsen said. There were no witnesses to the attack and the man struggled to convey what had happened when a trooper spoke with him at the hospital, she said.

A state biologist sent to the scene couldn't find the bear, Marsh said. There's no indication the animal will attack others.

"The bear was pretty much goaded into this," Marsh said.

Biologists advise people never to feed wild animals anything.