A man from Buffalo, NY is recovering after getting severely mauled by a grizzly bear. He was hiking in Wyoming when the bear encountered him. The incident happened so suddenly that he could not fight back. He was found and taken to the hospital by helicopter.

The 68-year-old man was on a long backpacking trip when encountered the grizzly bear. Officials say that he had bear spray, but the attack happened too fast for him to sue it. The man was found because his personal locator beacon sent out a distress signal.

Initially, rescue crews thought that the distress signal was for a plane that went down earlier in the area. They were shocked to find out that there was a person, in fact, that was in distress.

Check out the Facebook post that the Park County Sheriff's Department released:

A PLB is a beacon characteristically seen in maritime applications and not typically carried by hikers in recent years. Most outdoor enthusiasts carry a device which communicates with satellites to triangulate a position to within a few feet. However, a PLB transmits on a radio frequency which is typically associated with downed aircraft Emergency Location Transmitter (ELT).

NEXT: Does anyone in Buffalo remember the 4-foot alligator that was swimming around and nobody could catch? They since have transported him to a Florida alligator park where he is doing well and still being seen by visitors. The story is, wild (no pun intended), and you can check it out here.

Bald Eagle Living in Lancaster, NY

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