A 72-year-old man had to be airlifted to the hospital this week after he was mauled by a 70-pound bear in Arkansas , state Game and Fish Commission spokesperson Keith Stephens confirmed to Fox News Digital.

"His injuries were extensive," he told Fox News Digital.

He added to the Arkansas Times: "It was a pretty severe attack. It attacked him on his face, his arms, his upper body."

Vernon Patton, 72, was listed in critical condition and underwent surgery at the Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville and was then transferred to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

He is now in stable condition but remains in the hospital, Stephens told Fox News Digital.

It was the first known bear attack in Arkansas in at least decades, Stephens told USA Today. He added that

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