An Alaskan hunter, Jadon Nicoara, 27, has described in graphic detail how a brown bear mauled him during a hunting trip, including hearing his own bones break as the animal bit his face. The attack, which occurred while he and his cousin were hunting caribou near Deadhorse, left him needing surgery and highlights the ongoing risks of bear encounters in the remote Alaskan wilderness.

Nicoara said the bear charged at him from around 15 to 20 feet away, growling with its mouth open, before biting his arm, face, hands and foot. His cousin Daniel, a doctor, fired his handgun at the bear before it turned on him too, forcing him to play dead until it fled. Daniel then treated Nicoara's wounds before the pair reached a location for helicopter rescue, waiting roughly two hours for help to arrive. Nicoara was flown to Harborview Hospital, where a GoFundMe for his treatment has raised almost $40,000, while wildlife officials failed to locate the bear during an aerial search. Alaska accounts for around 29% of all fatal bear attacks in the United States.