Two flee by kayak after a bear attacks them in their tent, Alaska officials say

A bear attacked two campers sleeping in a tent early Saturday morning along the shoreline of Skilak Lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska officials say.

The two people, who were slightly injured, fled by kayak to a nearby campground where other campers notified Alaska State Troopers by satellite phone, refuge officials said.

“There’s no indication that they did anything to prompt the attack or did anything wrong,” wildlife biologist Jeff Selinger of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game told the Anchorage Daily News. The campers had first aid equipment.

“It’s one of those where you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Selinger told the publication.

Biologists and wildlife officers traveled to the campsite by boat but found no bears, according to the refuge. Other signs at the camp were inconclusive.

DNA tests are being done on the collapsed tent and other equipment to determine what kind of bear attacked the sleeping campers, refuge officials said.

The nearby Hidden Creek Trail was temporarily closed to the public, the refuge said.

“The big thing is being prepared as well as these folks were,” Selinger told the Anchorage Daily News. “You could get attacked in the Fred Meyer parking lot — you’re always in bear country here.”

This story was originally published June 14, 2021 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Two flee by kayak after a bear attacks them in their tent, Alaska officials say."