A hunter in Alaska is found dead after being mauled by a bear

By Chandelis Duster

Published October 31, 2024 at 2:30 PM EDT

Toby, an orphaned four-year-old Alaskan coastal brown bear, stands and looks out over the compound at the Fortress of the Bear Center in Sitka, Alaska, on Aug. 1, 2013.

A man from Sitka, Alaska, was found dead Wednesday after he was apparently attacked by a brown bear during a deer hunting trip, according to officials.

Tad Fujioka, a 50-year-old resident of Sitka, had been reported overdue from the deer hunting trip on Tuesday, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said in a statement. Fujioka’s remains were found at 11:30 a.m. local time Wednesday by search teams and an investigation shows “he was the likely victim of a fatal bear mauling,” the agency said.

Tim DeSpain, an information officer with the department, said Fujioka had killed a deer before being attacked by the brown bear.

"The area is remote and there are a lot of bears," DeSpain told NPR.

Troopers and members of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game searched for bears "until daylight constraints affected the search, and did not locate the bears,” DeSpain said. “The bears consumed the deer and left the immediate area which is remote and difficult to access.”

Members of Fujioka's family have been notified, the public safety department said.

Sitka is located in southeastern Alaska and is a community on Baranof Island. The community is nearly 100 miles south of Juneau, the state’s capital.

There are 30,000 brown bears estimated to be in Alaska, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. They normally live along Alaska’s southern coast and can weigh up to 1,500 pounds.