A 73-year-old woman was attacked by a bear while walking at national park in Montana, but is still alive thanks to her spouse.
The incident occurred on Sunday, while the couple was on a trek in Glacier National Park with their dog.
The husband successfully used bear spray to fend off the bear and they managed to reach their vehicle to call for emergency help at around 3pm.
Grizzly Bear Attack Survivor
The woman, who remains unidentified, was airlifted to a hospital in Kalispell, located approximately 50 miles from the Canadian border.
Current information on her condition has not been released by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks.
The bear involved in the attack has yet to be identified, but is most likely a grizzly or a black bear.
The woman involved was fortunate her husband was able to fend off the bear, as an extremely similar situation involving an older couple and their dog just 250 miles North resulted in a total tragedy.
Grizzly Bear Attack In Canada
The incident occurred in Banff National Park, where a Canadian couple and their dog were mauled to death by a grizzly bear days earlier on Friday.
Doug Inglis and Jenny Gusse, both 62 years old, were experienced backcountry campers who had a deep love for the outdoors and would embark on two week-long trips each year in the remote wilderness.
According to Doug’s uncle, Colin Inglis, the couple was highly skilled in various outdoor activities such as trekking and whitewater canoeing.
On the day of the attack, they sent an alarming distress signal through their GPS device, that simply read “bear attack bad.”
Although Parks Canada was swiftly notified, hazardous weather conditions prevented immediate action.
Grizzly Bear Attack Leads To Couple’s Death
Tragically, when rescuers finally arrived, Doug, Jenny, and their beloved Border Collie, Tris, were found lifeless next to empty cans of bear spray.
Colin said the couple had simply been unfortunate, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Parks Canada confirmed that the couple had appropriately hung their food to deter wildlife, suggesting that they had taken the necessary precautions to avoid attracting unwanted attention from predators.
Their deaths were the first that were caused by a grizzly bear in Banff National Park in several decades, and the bear responsible was untagged and not previously known to park staff.
The bear was put down by the rescue team when it charged them while they were recovering the bodies.
A necropsy, the animal version of an autopsy, conducted by Parks Canada determined that the grizzly bear responsible was an older female, estimated to be over 25 years old.
