Boy, 9, Mauled By Bear In Alaska; Family Member Shoots The Animal Dead

A 9-year-old boy hunting in Alaska was mauled by a bear before a family member fatally shot the animal. Both the child and the adult male were taken to the hospital with injuries.

Alaska State Troopers said the incident took place Tuesday when the boy and the 41-year-old man were hunting for a moose in the Palmer Hay Flats area, according to the New York Post.

The pair came across a brown bear which lunged at the boy and attacked him before the man managed to shoot the animal. A cub was also with the bear at the time and disappeared at some point during the incident.

"After a preliminary investigation, Troopers determined that the pair were hunting in the hay flats area when they came upon a brown bear," Alaska State Troopers wrote in a statement. "The bear attacked the juvenile. During the attack, the adult male shot and killed the bear."

First responders were informed and arrived at the scene around 6:37 p.m. The boy suffered serious injuries and was rushed to the hospital along with the man, whose injuries were minor.

Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel said the child was receiving medical care and was in fair condition Wednesday afternoon.

Todd Rinaldi, a regional management coordinator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said wildlife officials went back the next day to the area where the attack took place.

They searched for a carcass and continued investigating the circumstances that led to the attack. A necropsy of the bear's remains was done Wednesday.

The team searched for the cub, which they believe is an older one, Rinaldi said. Officials could not locate the cub and believe it was not injured in the incident.

Rinaldi noted that the cub would be put down if found.

"Unfortunately bear cubs beyond the first few weeks/months of life outside the den do not do well in captive situations," Rinaldi told Anchorage Daily News.

Rinaldi said officials have been keeping an eye out for a brown bear that has been getting into chicken coops in and around the area in the weeks before the incident. Although residents have not reported any such incident since Friday, it was determined that the bear fatally shot by the hunter was not the same bear involved in the chicken coop incidents, Rinaldi added.