JUNEAU — The condition of a university educator who was mauled by a bear while teaching a mountaineering course to students in southeast Alaska was improving Tuesday.
His condition was upgraded from critical to serious, according to a spokesman from Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.
A sow with two cubs attacked University of Alaska Southeast assistant professor Forest Wagner on Mount Emmerich, near Haines, Alaska, where he was leading 11 students and two teaching assistants Monday, said spokeswoman Katie Bausler. A student used a satellite phone to call for help. No one else was hurt.
Troopers coordinated a helicopter rescue into Haines. Wagner was then flown to Anchorage for treatment. The hospital said Wagner, 35, of Juneau, would not give interviews.
Troopers’ spokeswoman Megan Peters said it wasn’t clear what kind of bear attacked Wagner.
Students were evacuated from the mountain after someone saw the bear in the area, but Peters said that person was too panicked to relay the type of bear.
The students spent the night in Haines with another professor and planned to take a ferry back Tuesday to Juneau, Bausler said.
Meanwhile, an Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist was seeking information on the attack and planned to interview the students upon their return to Juneau, according to spokesman Ken Marsh.
Wagner has been coordinating and teaching in the university’s outdoor studies program since 2006, according to his biography. He teaches rock and ice climbing, backcountry navigation, glacier travel and mountaineering.
His teaching schedule said he planned to leave the mountain by Tuesday.
Wagner is the second man attacked by a bear in Alaska within days. A 77-year-old bear hunter is recovering at an Anchorage hospital from injuries he suffered when a grizzly mauled him in interior Alaska on Friday.
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9 a.m. Tuesday — An assistant professor who was mauled by a bear while teaching a mountaineering course in southeast Alaska is in critical condition.
A spokesman at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage says 35-year-old Forest Wagner is in the intensive care unit Tuesday, a day after the attack.
A University of Alaska Southeast spokeswoman says Wagner was with a group of 11 students and two teaching assistants on Mount Emmerich near Haines, Alaska, when he was attacked by a sow with two cubs. No students were hurt Monday.
A student hiked down the mountain to get cellphone reception and call for help.
Wagner’s biography says he’s been coordinating and teaching in the outdoor studies program at the university’s Juneau campus since 2006. He teaches rock and ice climbing, backcountry navigation, glacier travel and mountaineering.
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9:45 p.m. Monday
A teacher has been hospitalized after he was mauled by a bear during a mountaineering class in the Alaska Panhandle.
A University of Alaska Southeast spokeswoman says Forest Wagner was with a group of 11 students and two teaching assistants on Mount Emmerich near Haines, Alaska, on Monday when he was attacked. No students were hurt.
A student hiked down the mountain to get cellphone reception and call for help.
The university says Wagner was taken to Providence Hospital in Anchorage. His condition was not immediately available, but the university said he was stable.
Wagner has been coordinating and teaching in the outdoor studies program at the university since 2006, according to his biography. He teaches rock and ice climbing, backcountry navigation, glacier travel and mountaineering.
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JUNEAU — A man who teaches classes on the outdoors has been hospitalized after he was mauled by a bear during a mountaineering class in the Alaska Panhandle.
Forest Wagner, 35, of Fairbanks, was with a group of 12 students Monday on Mount Emmerich near Haines when he was attacked, according to University of Alaska Southeast spokeswoman Kate Bausler. A student hiked down the mountain to get cell reception and call for help.
Wagner was taken to Providence Hospital in Anchorage, according to a statement from the university.
His condition was not immediately available, but the university said he was stable.
Wagner was leading a group of 11 students and 2 teaching assistants when he was attacked by a bear with cubs, the statement said. No students were hurt.
According to Wagner’s teaching calendar, he was scheduled to come down off of the mountain by Tuesday. He has been coordinating and teaching in the outdoor studies program at the university since 2006, according to his biography. He teaches rock and ice climbing, backcountry navigation, glacier travel and mountaineering.
Alaska State Troopers got a call from the Haines Police Department about noon Monday. According to their report, they removed Wagner from the mountain via helicopter and put him on another LifeMed helicopter before taking him to a hospital.
The bear was sighted again after the mauling, Bausler said. The students in the mountaineering class were taken down from the mountain and are spending the night in Haines with another professor. Haines is about 90 miles north of Juneau and accessible only by air or sea.
Students are scheduled to take a ferry back to Juneau today, Bausler said.
Wagner is the second man attacked by a bear in Alaska within days.
A 77-year-old bear hunter is recovering from injuries suffered when he was mauled by a grizzly in interior Alaska.
Troopers on Monday said hunter Glenn Bohn of Wasilla was attacked by the bear near Mile 68 of the Denali Highway just after 1:30 p.m. on Friday.
The 135-mile road runs east to west and connects the Richardson and Parks highways east of Denali National Park.
Bohn’s hunting partner killed the bear. Bohn was driven by snowmobile to the Denali Highway where a LifeMed Alaska helicopter flew him to an Anchorage hospital.
Wildlife troopers, employees of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and friends of Bohn removed the bear from the field Saturday.
