A brown bear seriously injured a woman in her front yard near Kenai shortly after she let her two dogs out early Thursday morning, according to Alaska State Troopers.
The woman, who has not been publicly identified, was airlifted to Anchorage for medical treatment after the mauling at her home near Karluk Avenue off Kalifornsky Beach Road.
In a statement posted online, troopers say the woman had opened her front door around 5 a.m. to find a brown bear sow and two cubs, which caused one of her dogs to run back inside, while the other ran away from the door.
Troopers say the woman grabbed a shotgun and fired three or four rounds in an effort to scare off the bears. The sow then attacked the woman on her front deck. Someone else at the house scared the bear away and moved the woman inside. Troopers say the woman sustained serious injuries and was flown to an Anchorage hospital in a helicopter.
In the yard later, troopers found multiple bird feeders – a known bear attractant – in disarray.
Alaska Wildlife Troopers and state Department of Fish and Game officials are investigating the attack and collected samples left behind by the bears. As of around 2 p.m. Thursday, the three bears had not been located. State troopers are asking anyone who sees brown bears in the area to contact them at 907-262-4453, or to file a report with Fish and Game.
Thursday’s attack comes almost a year after a different woman was mauled by a bear near Kenai. In August 2025, a woman was attacked while jogging near her home by Chinook Drive, off the Kenai Spur Highway. She was also airlifted to Anchorage for treatment and recovered.
