A teenage mine worker has been mauled to death by a female grizzly bear and her two cubs on an Alaskan island.
Anthony David Montoya, 18, a contract worker from Hollis, Oklahoma, died at a remote drill site accessible only by helicopter on Monday, authorities said.
State Troopers said Montoya, who worked for Idaho-based Timberline Drilling, had been working at a drill site on the edge of the Hecla Greens Creek Mine property in southeastern Alaska when he was attacked.
He was mauled by the three bears, all of which were killed before they arrived.
Anthony David Montoya, 18, a contract worker from Hollis, Oklahoma, died at a remote drill site accessible only by helicopter on Monday, authorities said
The teenager’s body was then taken to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy.
The Hecla Greens Creek Mine, one of the world’s largest silver producers, is located about 18 miles south of Juneau on Admiralty Island.
The island is famous for its coastal grizzlies, also known locally as brown bears, and has the densest population, or most bears per square mile, in North America.
An estimated 1,500 brown bears roam on the island, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Admiralty Island’s traditional Tlingit name, Kootznoowoo, translates to ‘fortress of the bear.’
And the island’s singular permanent community, Angoon, can only be accessed by plane or ferry.
State Troopers said Montoya (pictured) had been working at a drill site on the edge of the Hecla Greens Creek Mine property in southeastern Alaska when he was attacked
Run-ins with bears on the island are fairly unusual, with one non-fatal attack within the past three years.
The mine’s operator, an Alaska-based subsidiary of Idaho-based Hecla Mining Company, said the attack site was remote, accessible only by helicopter and away from the main mine operations.
Until Monday, there had never been an injury-causing bear attack in the nearly 30 years that the mine has been in operation, said Mike Satre, Hecla Greens Creek’s manager of government and community relations.
‘We have lots of bears on Admiralty Island. We work in and around them on a regular basis,’ he said.
Admiralty Island is famous for its coastal grizzlies, also known locally as brown bears, and has the densest population, or most bears per square mile, in North America. Pictured, a file photo of an Alaskan brown bear
‘We have certainly had encounters, but we have never had an encounter that resulted in an injury to our personnel.’
The mine’s bear-safety program includes training that all workers, contractors and visitors must complete before coming to the site, Satre said.
Workers are taught ways to prevent bear encounters, including proper disposal of food.
In remote locations, bear spray is among the tools employees generally bring with them in the case of bear encounters, Satre said.
Monday’s fatal mauling was the second in Alaska this year.
In June, a grizzly killed a man hiking in Eagle River, a suburb of Anchorage.