Mauled by bear, Alaska man calls 911 from tree

By Miranda Leitsinger, msnbc.com

A hiker who clambered 30 feet up a tree in the Alaskan woods after being mauled by a brown bear is recovering after state troopers rescued him.

From high up in the tree, Ben Radakovich called 911 early Sunday to report the attack three miles from the head of Bird Creek Trail.

?I was mauled by a brown bear,? he gasped in the call. ?I?m bleeding bad.?

Radakovich told the emergency operator that he was bleeding from his back and neck, and asked for an ambulance. The call appeared to disconnect at one point, and when Radakovich got back on the line, he told the operator that a bear cub was also on the scene.

?I can hear the brown bear, it?s still huffing in the trees,? he said. ?I was able to climb a tree. So I?m as high up in a tree as I can get.?

?The damn thing was batting at me,? he later added.

Troopers reached Radakovich about two hours after his 911 call, KTUU-TV reported.

"He was pretty cold, shivering," Trooper Tim Lewis told the station. "He had multiple injuries, serious injuries."

The Associated Press reported that Radakovich, of Eagle River, used ski poles to protect himself.

Radakovich has been released from the hospital, KTUU-TV reported.

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