Bear mauls Swedish skier

28th March 2011, by Chris Gill

One of the Funäsdalen resorts

A bear attack on a young skier in Sweden has heightened awareness of wildlife in the area.

While we usually associate bears with North America, Sweden has its own brown bears too. And in this case, an unfortunate fall into the lair resulted in a savage attack.

The boy was skiing in the Funäsdalen area – popular with families and comprising ten or so resorts that make up the country’s third largest ski area – when he fell into a snow cave. It happened to be the home of a hibernating female bear, who awoke and clawed the boy on his legs and back.

Although the 12-year-old managed to escape, he was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The bear was not put to sleep, as she was considered to be only acting in self-defence.

• sweden
• funasdalen

Back to news