Silver Miner, aged 18, killed in Alaska grizzly attack

1630Boston

10/1/18

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - An 18-year-old man was killed by a grizzly bear while working at a silver mine in Alaska on Monday, state troopers said, marking the second fatal mauling in the largest U.S. state this year.

The victim, identified as Anthony David Montoya of Hollis, Oklahoma, had been working at a drill site on the edge of the Hecla Greens Creek Mine property in southeastern Alaska when he was attacked, the Alaska State Troopers said.

He was fatally mauled in an encounter with a mother grizzly and her two cubs, a trooper spokeswoman said.

The Hecla Greens Creek Mine, one of the world’s largest silver producers, is located about 18 miles (29 km) south of Juneau on Admiralty Island.

The island is famous for its coastal grizzlies, also known locally as brown bears, and has the densest population, or most bears per square mile, in North America.

Admiralty Island’s traditional Tlingit name, Kootznoowoo, translates to “fortress of the bear.”

The mine’s operator, an Alaska-based subsidiary of Idaho-based Hecla Mining Company, said the attack site was remote, accessible only by helicopter and away from the main mine operations.

Montoya was an employee of contractor Timberline Drilling, Hecla Greens Creek Mining Co said.

Until Monday, there had never been an injury-causing bear attack in the nearly 30 years that the mine has been in operation, said Mike Satre, Hecla Greens Creek’s manager of government and community relations.

Full story here:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alaska-bear/miner-aged-18-killed-in-alaska-grizzly-attack-idUSKCN1MC09H

asheland

That's terrible.

1630Boston

I guess the bear outnumber people 3:1 there

https://youtu.be/bLdnP5Xlrms

johnny9434

what a bummer, im sorry to hear that

3stars

When you go out in the wild in Alaska, you are #5 or so on the food chain.

Timbuk3

OMG, how horrible !!!

coinpalice

probably one of the worse ways to die besides being burned alive in a car or drowning

ricko

Wow... nasty way to go... If I were working there, I would always have a Magnum Research BFR45/70 BFR Revolver 5RD strapped to my hip or across my chest. No way would I be unarmed in that situation. Heck, I am never unarmed in normal life now. (except when flying - and that is rectified after landing). Cheers, RickO

kiyote

That’d be my least favorite way to go. The idea of playing dead is ridiculous.

1630Boston

Having had a dog mauled by a bear, I do not think it is humanly possible to 'play' dead.

The dog survived with 100 stitches [ at $1 per stitch back then] but was never the same after the encounter.

Baley

That's a shame, but at least it was quick.

Most of us are getting mauled excruciatingly slowly by the Silver Bear.