A Californian woman has survived an attack by a grizzly bear in a remote area of a military base in Alaska by tricking the animal into thinking she was dead.
Jessica Gamboa was out running with her husband on 18 May at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson when the two became separated.
In an interview with military authorities she described seeing a bear cub on the side of the road before being charged by a grizzly “momma bear”. The animal then proceeded to pick her up by her backside, carry her across the road, drop her down and mauled her.
Gamboa sustained neck fractures and lacerations to her neck, arms, and legs, but as she lay there and pretended to be dead the bear moved on. According to Alaska Dispatch, this behaviour is common in sow grizzly bears who will only attack a human if they believe them to be a threat to their cubs, and will leave them alone once they believe them to be incapacitated.
Once the bear had left, Gamboa managed to pick herself up and get onto the road, where luckily a senior army medic was driving past and spotted her covered in blood.
