4th bear mauling in Anchorage area in two months

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An Eagle River man shot and killed a brown bear sow Thursday after the animal mauled him near his home, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

The man, who has not been identified, said he was walking with his unleashed dogs on a dirt road off of Hiland Road, an area biologists described as well-known bear territory. His dogs wandered away and when they ran back toward the man, they were trailed by a brown bear sow, said Dave Battle, an assistant area wildlife biologist with Fish and Game.

"This is not in an Anchorage subdivision," Battle said. "This is out in the big woods."

Battle said the sow attacked the man, who in turn fired at it three times with a .44 Magnum.

"The last time, I think, he got it through the lung," Battle said. "It ran back into the alders and he could hear it wheezing."

The man's wife drove him to the hospital. Battle said he did not know the extent of the man's injuries.

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This is the second brown bear attack in the area in less than a week and the fourth on the outskirts of Anchorage in just over two months.

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