Researcher who walked miles to reach safety after attack says she will continue to study the animals

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A researcher who survived a grizzly bear attack that cracked open her skull said the bear “was just doing what bears do” and she will continue to study the animals.

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The Cabinet mountains in Montana, where the attack happened on 17 May, have about 50 grizzlies that are protected. DNA tests show the bear that attacked Amber Kornak is a 24-year-old male that was captured in 2005 as part of a research project.

Montana wildlife officials said the bear acted defensively, so it will not be tracked and shot.

Kornak, 28, was conducting solo research for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Collecting bear hair samples, she blew a whistle and clapped as she worked, to alert any bears to her presence.

According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, because of rain, wind and the sound of a nearby creek, Kornak still got within 12ft of a grizzly without either knowing the other was there.

“We spooked each other,” Kornak said. “I got down on the ground and pulled out my bear spray. He bit down on my skull, and I just reached over with my left arm and sprayed him and he was gone. The bear spray saved my life.”

Kornak’s skull was cracked open, her back and arm were clawed, and she was two miles from her truck. She sent out an emergency notification using a satellite device, then washed the Mace-like bear spray from her eyes. After checking the trail to make sure the bear was gone, she started walking.



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“I said: ‘I’m at least going to try to get as far as I can,”’ she said. “If I at least get to my truck, then I wouldn’t run into any other animals, like another bear or a moose.”

Kornak drove about three miles along a dirt road until she came across a pickup truck. The driver gave her a ride until they found an ambulance responding to her emergency call.

Kornak, who spent a week in hospital, said the attack reinforced her goal of becoming a wildlife manager specializing in bears.

Montana FWP spokesman Dillon Tabish said: “It was a really unfortunate situation where neither the victim nor the bear was in the wrong.”

Kornak agreed. “He was just doing what bears do,” she said.