Jogger mauled by bear on Kenai Peninsula

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KENAI, Alaska (AP) - A jogger was mauled by a brown bear on the Kenai Peninsula in what state officials are calling the first mauling of 2008.

The mauling is being blamed on improperly stored garbage.

Larry Lewis, a wildlife technician who investigated the mauling for the Division of Wildlife Conservation, said he found several large buckets of garbage on the victim's porch, about 150 yards from where the mauling occurred.

The 43-year-old victim, who has not been identified, was charged by a sow with two cubs when he left his home early Tuesday. The man turned and fled, but the bear quickly caught him, biting his buttocks, the back of his head and his chest.

The man underwent surgery at a local hospital.

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