A cancer-stricken teen-ager's dream to go bear hunting in Alaska has brought about an unusual clash between the Make-a-Wish Foundation, which is helping the boy fulfill his dream, and animal rights groups.

The 17-year-old boy, identified by the foundation only as Erik, has a brain tumor. He wants to hunt and kill a kodiak bear in Alaska.

The Make-a-Wish Foundation, a charitable organization that grants the wishes of terminally ill children, was to send the boy and his father on the hunting trip sometime this month. Foundation officials would not say on Friday whether the trip was under way.

Animal rights groups are urging the foundation to change its plans for the boy and to rethink its policy on the types of wishes it grants.