A woman from Girdwood, Alaska was hospitalized Tuesday with serious injuries after she was attacked and mauled by a grizzly bear.
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Gabbriele Markel, 20, was running on a trail near Skilak Lake in Alaska, when an adult grizzly bear emerged from the nearby brush and knocked her to the ground, NBC News reported. Markel was listed in good condition Wednesday.
“Haley ran from the scene back to the lodge for help, the bear was still on top of Markel when Haley last saw her”, Alaska State Troopers wrote in an online post about the incident.
Markel tried to use pepper spray to deter the animal, but it did not seem to work.
It is believe the women may have startled the bear, leading to the attack. “In Alaska, there are bears”.
“Gabrielle did have bear spray with her and, I think, even attempted to use it”, Timmel said. “‘But as it happens in these types of situations, sometimes, it was very quick and the bear was surprised”. “They surprised a bear as they were coming around a turn, basically”, explained Tom Timmel, operations manager for Alaska Wildland Adventures, the company involved with the lodge where the mauling took place.
She was transported to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage with injuries that weren’t thought to be life-threatening. “But they should still be aware at all times of a potential bear attack”. She declined interview requests through the Anchorage hospital.
Haley and several other employees equipped with bear spray rushed to Markel’s aid, but the attack was already over by then, according to Canada Journal.
It’s unclear how Markel managed to get away from the bear.
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According to CBS News, the attack occurred when two employees of an Alaskan lodge were out for a run on a trail at the state’s Kenai Peninsula.
