At least two wolves chased down and killed a teacher who was jogging on a road last year outside a rural Alaska village, according to a report released Tuesday by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game…
…Biologists ruled out reasons for the attack other than aggression. Investigators found no evidence that the wolves had acted defensively or that Berner was carrying food. They found no kill site that wolves may have been defending, no indication that the wolves had become habituated to people and no evidence of rabies.
“This appears to have been an aggressive, predatory attack that was relatively short in duration,” the report concluded…
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One or two wolves gave chase along the edge of the road, while another ran above the road and intercepted her. A depression in the snow with traces of blood on the road showed where Berner was first knocked down or fell. Investigators found a second depression 10 feet away, indicating she was knocked down or fell a second time.
Tracks suggested Berner struggled and crawled away, then was pulled downhill. The amount of blood suggested that by then, she was severely wounded. Investigators concluded she died in a clearing 30 feet from the road at a spot where snow melted in a 3-foot circle and a large bloodstain was found…
Her body was subsequently dragged out of the clearing 83 feet downhill into brush.
…Four Chignik Lake residents returning home on snowmobiles saw blood on the road and a man who walked off the road spotted Berner’s body. Later that night, a man who went to guard the body spotted a wolf nearby and saw that the body had been dragged 70 more feet downhill and that more of it had been eaten…
…After the tragedy, when residents were unable to kill wolves, the Fish and Game Department decided to cull wolves within 30 miles of the village and killed eight. One adult female was killed March 26 within a mile of the village and DNA from that animal, as well as from at least one other wolf, was found on Berner’s body and clothing…
Read the full story via: Anchorage Daily News
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