No injuries after humans ‘pawed’ by bears inside Alaska park

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska park officials say two incidents happened recently where bears actually reached out and touched humans, something that hasn’t happened for two decades.

KTUU-TV reports Katmai National Park & Preserve said last week that a bear pawed a visitor’s pant leg after approaching the visitor in a curious manner at Brooks Camp. A second bear that was being chased by another bear pawed an employee of Katmailand’s Brooks Lodge.

The National Park Service said in a news release that neither case led to injury to the people involved.

Officials say both cases involved young bears known as “subadults,” a high number of which are now concentrated around Brooks Camp. The National Park Service says the last time the numbers were this high was in the mid-2000s.

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Information from: KTUU-TV, http://www.ktuu.com