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Man faced death while griz gnawed
Biologists issue warning following four bear attacks in the region.

By Whitney Royster

Although he has more than 300 stitches holding his face together and his speech is slurred because of the trauma, Jesshua Amun has a message: Do no harm to the grizzly bear that attacked him.
The bear was protecting her cubs from what she perceived as a threat, Amun said, and people who go into the woods to mingle with wildlife need to understand they are taking a risk.

"The bear shouldn't be punished for who they are," he said, slurring his words slightly because of the stitches. "We all share the same woods. To think we are separate from our surroundings is as ludicrous as it comes."

Amun, 38, was mauled by a grizzly bear Aug. 25 while hiking outside of West Yellowstone, Mont., just west of Yellowstone National Park. A volunteer with Buffalo Field Campaign, he was leading a group of four who were tracking a male bison through a heavily wooded area.

The attack was one of four in recent weeks that has public land managers warning of trouble. They say casualties will increase if people aren't careful, especially as hunting season gets underway and bow hunters are sneaking through the forest.

Steve Cain, senior wildlife biologist for Grand Teton National Park, said early September is when most conflicts occur. "Bears will be looking for food sources in subdivisions, in campgrounds," Cain said. "Our biggest emphasis is on keeping food stored."

In Teton park, a bear or bears have been walking into camps looking for food up Cascade, Granite and Death canyons, Cain said.

In Yellowstone National Park, a bear bit a sleeping man through his tent on the Sportsman Lake Trail Friday. Mike Barbic sustained a puncture wound and a laceration on his right buttocks.

On Monday, two hikers surprised a mother and three cubs along Columbine Creek east of Yellowstone Lake. The bear charged the hikers, biting one man on the lower leg, picking him up and shaking him and fracturing his fibula. Then the bear charged his companion and she sprayed the bear with pepper spray. The bear retreated with her cubs.

Outside the parks, a man at a hunting camp near Arizona Creek on the Bridger-Teton National Forest was having lunch by the water Saturday when a bear came out of the woods and swatted him. The man, whose name was not released, was treated and released from St. John's Medical Center for lacerations to his face, chest and arm.

In addition, a black bear was shot at the Circle EW Ranch north of Jackson last week when it tried to enter a cabin. A few days later the Wyoming Game and Fish trapped and killed its two cubs when they showed up at the same home.

Of all the encounters Amun's could have been the most frightening as the bear bit and tore at his head. He said he didn't know what was happening until the grizzly was upon him.

"She came out of nowhere and attacked me," he said from his hospital bed at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. "The bear saw me and charged. She came out of the bushes."

Amun said he must have walked very near her cubs and the grizzly ran at him from close range.

"It was definitely a grizzly," he said. "I've never seen a bear move like that before. They're quick."

Amun said he remembered her giant mouth descending on his face.

"She tackled me and growled really loud," he said. "She growled and bit my knee and threw me around a little bit then went away."

Amun said the attack was difficult to describe.

"I had a pretty interesting experience when she bit my face," he said. "I went to a very quiet, very peaceful place. There was no darkness or light. There was no judgement. Basically I thought I was dead."

Still, moving toward death was an epiphanous experience, he said.

"I had a very spiritual experience," he said. "For one moment I thought I was dead, and I was okay with that. I came to an epihpany with death and I came to accept what it is."

The bear tore most of Amun's face apart, and he remembers his upper lip "just hanging on by a piece of skin." He said his face was ripped completely open, and he was holding his skin together with his hands.

"I was bleeding pretty good," he said. "I was in a lot of pain. You can't describe what it's like having your face torn off."

Amun said one man in his group climbed a tree and the other two were farther behind. Others in his group radioed for help and Amun was airlifted to the hospital.

"If I stayed, I would have bled to death or another bear would have come and finished me off," he said.

Doctors sewed more than 300 stitches to repair Amun's face. In addition, Amun's knee is punctured and swollen and on Tuesday caused him the most pain. "There's still some infection in my knee," he said. "At first it was a shock to see my face because it was completely swollen. She also broke my nose."

Amun said he has been dealing with stress from the incident, coming to terms with fear and death.

"It's a very emotional experience," he said. "It tends to force you to face many things such as fear and death when you have a bear that tries to swallow your face."

Amun, who is originally from Ohio but has been living in Sedona, Ariz., in recent years, plans on returning to the area to help the Buffalo Field Campaign. Activists work to protect bison from slaughter when they leave Yellowstone.

"I'm coming back," he said. "I'm not going to back down."

Amun said he has told park and forest rangers not to take action against the grizzly that attacked him.

"I told them I will slap a lawsuit on them if anyone tries to kill the bear."

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