A female brown bear. (Alaska Department of Fish and Game)
A man was charged by a bear in Haines on Wednesday. He did not sustain any injuries. Meanwhile, numerous residents have reported bears getting into compost piles, freezers, and other food sources this month.
Representatives with Alaska Department of Fish and Game say that unsecured garbage and other attractants have been drawing more bears to populated areas this year.
As bears try to pack on extra pounds before hibernating for the winter, it is not uncommon for them to look for food in town.
But Fish and Game Biologist Carl Koch says there are noticeably more bears this year.
Koch says when he started working as a wildlife manager for Haines in 2015 there was only one problem bear on everybody’s radar. According to Anthony Crupi, a bear researcher with Fish and Game, 10 different bears have been spotted around town in the past month.
Most local bears spent the summer gorging on berries due to weak pink and chum salmon runs. Crupi says there aren’t a lot of options for food right now.
“There’s just really not a lot of fish still available. The berries are essentially done up at higher elevations,” Crupi says. “When we make it available for them to find food around our homes and places like the landfill, that really creates an additional challenge.”
Crupi says that outdoor freezers and unsecured garbage are drawing them to town. Last weekend state troopers cited a man for piling garbage behind his house on FAA road that had attracted three brown bears to the area. The property owner was fined $320.
A few days later, Koch says a man was charged outside of an apartment complex on Second Avenue.
“He went out for a smoke and encountered the bear, which did charge him and then left.”
Koch says the apartment complex had trouble keeping bears out of its dumpster in the week leading up to the charge. The dumpsters have since been emptied, and Community Waste Solutions is working to secure them.
Law enforcement is not searching for the bear that charged the man. Crupi says the priority is reducing the number of bear attractants that are out in the open.
“In most of these instances, these bears are not looking for a fight. They’re always looking to kinda work between the cracks and when they can get away from people they do.”
Koch says it is important to be bear aware by traveling in groups while walking through wooded areas, carrying a flashlight or headlamp at night, keeping dogs leashed if they aren’t under voice control, and carrying a deterrent such as bear spray.
