Black bears kill 2 in Alaska, including teen in extreme race

Patrick Cooper encountered the black bear that would take his life in a rare predatory attack. (Reuters)

Patrick Cooper had already turned around after reaching the halfway point in a popular mountain race in Alaska when he somehow veered off the trail and became lost. That's when the 16-year-old Anchorage boy encountered the black bear that would take his life in a rare predatory attack.

Cooper began running, and at one point he reportedly placed a frantic call to his brother, saying he was being chased by a bear Sunday in the Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb race south of Anchorage. The brother notified race director Brad Precosky, who alerted race crews to begin searching for Cooper, known as Jack.

It took a couple hours for responders to locate the teen, whose body was found about a mile up the path, at about 1,500 vertical feet (457 vertical meters). The bear was found at the site, guarding the body, Precosky said.

A Chugach State Park ranger shot the 250-pound (113-kilogram) bear in the face, but the animal ran away.

Alaska State Troopers said the boy's remains were airlifted from the scene on Sunday.

State park staffers were scouring the area Monday looking for the bear, state Fish and Game spokesman Ken Marsh said. Sunday's attack was believed to have been a rare predatory move, not a defensive action such as when a female bear will protect her cubs, he said.

"It's very unusual," Marsh said of the mauling. "It's sort of like someone being struck by lightning."

Later Monday, a second fatal mauling at the hands of a black bear was reported nearly 300 miles northeast of Anchorage. Officials with an underground gold mine reported a contract employee hired to take geological samples was killed and another injured in a black bear attack.

No names have been released. Alaska State Troopers and federal mine officials are investigating the mauling at Pogo Mine.

Matt Wedeking, division operations manager with Alaska State Parks, said the predatory behavior of the bear in the attack on the teen was not normal. Asked if there were cubs around this black bear, he said, "We don't know. There could have been. But right now I don't have any information about the bear."