A 72-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, showed remarkable courage and resourcefulness when he found himself in a life-threatening situation while picking blueberries in Montana. Officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks said the man was alone on national forest land when an adult female grizzly bear suddenly attacked him last Thursday. In a terrifying struggle for survival, the man was able to defend himself by firing a pistol, eventually subduing and killing the bear. The incident left him seriously injured, prompting an emergency evacuation to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.

Dillon Tabish, a spokesman for the agency, suggested the bear was likely a mother trying to protect her cubs. Conservationists have since combed the area for orphaned cubs, with considerations about their fate leaning toward abandoning them to the wild when they are of a suitable age to survive.