Alaska man recovering from bear attack

An Alaska man is recovering from injuries he suffered when a bear attacked him Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.

Allen Dewitt Minish, 61, was surveying by himself in a wooded area a half-mile from a road in the Gulkana area when he approached a brown bear without realizing it, troopers said in a report.

The adult bear charged and attacked Minish and then left in what was described as a brief encounter. Minish suffered puncture wounds and lacerations to his head, troopers said.

He was in good condition at Providence Alaska Medical Center on Wednesday night, the hospital said.

There have been at least three other bear attacks in Alaska with injuries since July, including one that killed a hunter from Ohio in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, which is east of Gulkana.

That September attack occurred when the hunter remained at the site of a moose kill alone preparing another load to be taken to camp, a park official said.

In July, a man was killed near Hope, south of Anchorage.

In February, a skier was mauled by a brown bear while he and others were hiking up a mountain northwest of Haines, in the southeastern part of the state near the top of the Alaskan panhandle. That man survived.

In that case, the group unknowingly came across a den with the bear and her cubs, state troopers have said.

The Alaska Fish and Game Department says that bear attacks are rare and encourages people to avoid surprising the animals by traveling in groups, making noise and avoiding thick brush.