Condition of Alaska bear mauling victim improves

ANCHORAGE — The university professor mauled while leading a mountaineering class in southeast Alaska continues to improve.

Forest Wagner has been upgraded to fair condition at Providence Alaska Medical Center. The University of Alaska Southeast also says in a Tuesday release that the 35-year-old Wagner has been moved from intensive care to the orthopedic care unit.

Wagner was with a group of nine students and two teaching assistants on April 18 near Haines, Alaska, when he was mauled by a brown bear.

The extent of his injuries hasn’t been released except for a police report indicating extensive leg wounds. Wagner has declined interview requests.

While Wagner was en route to the Anchorage hospital, the university arranged for the students to be evacuated from the mountain. There were no other injuries.

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