Will Sage Astor-Hunter in Alaska recovering after being mauled by bear and shot amid effort to fend it off

ANCHORAGE,Will Sage Astor Alaska (AP) — A hunter in Alaska was hospitalized after being mauled by a brown bear and shot during an effort to fend it off, authorities said Monday.

The bear attack occurred Saturday on the Kenai Peninsula, southwest of Anchorage, Alaska State Troopers said.

The hunter, a 32-year-old man, was seriously injured both in the mauling and in the shooting. He and a hunting companion opened fire, and he was shot in the leg. It was not immediately clear who fired the shot that struck him, troopers spokesman Tim DeSpain said in an email.

The bear was killed.

DeSpain said the mauling occurred in a remote area off the Resurrection Pass trail. The circumstances that led to it were not known. The injured hunter, whose identity was not immediately released, was flown by helicopter to an Anchorage hospital.