Woman Walks 2 Miles After Surviving Bear Attack

Officials say a soldier's wife is lucky to be alive after being mauled by a brown bear on a sprawling military base in Alaska. The woman was jogging when she startled the bear and her two cubs, and officials at Anchorage's Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson say the bear saw the woman as a threat and attacked her to defend her babies, the AP reports. After the attack, the dazed and bloodied woman, who suffered lacerations to her neck, arms, and legs, walked two miles along a rough, unpaved trail to get help.

Officials say the woman, who is in stable condition in the hospital, appears to have rolled into a ball to protect herself, although she doesn't remember much about the attack. Recreation areas nearby will be closed for at least a week but since the bear was acting defensively, wildlife officials probably won't take action against her. "The main message is don't get complacent. I'm not saying she was," the senior conservation officer on the base tells the Anchorage Daily News. "I don't care if you're in downtown Anchorage or on the base, bears are everywhere." (More Alaska stories.)