ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – The U.S. military on Thursday identified a soldier who died this week from injuries sustained during a bear attack in a military training area in Alaska.
A statement from the army said that the staff sergeant. Seth Michael Plant, 30, has been pronounced dead at an Elmendorf-Richardson joint hospital in Anchorage after the crash on Tuesday. Another soldier was slightly injured in the attack in a training area west of Anchorage’s depot, according to the military.
The plant is from St. Augustine, Florida, and has been at the Elmendorf-Richardson Joint Base since July 2021, an army statement said. He was an infantryman of the 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Parachute Regiment.
Lt. Col. David J. Nelson, 3rd Battalion, commander of the 509th Infantry Parachute Regiment, said Plant “always had a smile on his face, he always went beyond what was asked of him, and he served as an inspiration to all who I had the privilege of knowing him. “
The military says the strike is being investigated.
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game said a lair with two brown bears was found nearby. A statement from the department said that after the attack, a brown bear approached the area and officials who responded to the attack used a bear spray, an irritant that can deter bears. The bear left, the statement said.
The hair collected during the initial investigation into the attack is in line with a brown bear, the department said.
The bear attacked in a remote area of the military base, the ministry said. Cindy Wardlow, the department’s regional supervisor, said the information gathered so far suggested it was a “defensive attack by a female bear protecting her young.”
“We are trying to learn everything we can about what happened to increase public safety around Alaska’s wildlife,” she said in a statement.
The unit said it could kill bears that are considered a threat to public safety or involved in deadly attacks. It says that the game cameras installed by the department during the investigation show that an adult bear has returned to the area and left the den with the young.
The location of the bear involved in Tuesday’s attack is unknown, the agency said.
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