VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — A badly injured park ranger in British Columbia says he survived a mauling by a grizzly bear by driving himself to a hospital.

Jordan Carbery says he was trying to photograph grizzly cubs in a cherry tree outside his home in Bella Coola when the cub’s mother raced in, knocked him down and repeatedly bit him, picking him up by the head, then the thigh.

He escaped by kicking her in the face, found his keys and got to his car for a 10-minute ride to the hospital. He’s still recovering after operations.

Inspector Len Butler of the Conservation Officer Society says the bears won’t be destroyed because the mother bear’s attack was defensive. But the trees may have to be cut down or electrified because cherries attract bears.

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