Authorities are warning hikers to steer clear of streams and rivers where salmon are running and to take precautions after bears mauled hikers on two different occasions within a week in Anchorage.

A bear warning sign is posted at the Basher trailhead in Anchorage, Alaska, on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, a day after a hiker was injured by a brown bear about two miles into the trail.

Anchorage is home to about 290,000 people, or about 40% of the state’s population, and all kinds of wildlife, including an estimated 350 black bears, 65 brown bears and 1,600 moose.

Both unidentified hikers survived the attacks in separate parts of the municipality of Anchorage, a sprawling urban-wildlife interface that spreads across 1,961 square miles (5,079 square ...