ALASKA WILDLIFE OFFICIALS say they plan to kill a family of five black bears that’s been roaming through an Anchorage neighborhood for a second year.
The Alaska Dispatch News, an Anchorage newspaper, reports there is no timeline set for officials to kill the adult sow and four yearling cubs.
The plans were announced by Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials, who say their presence is too dangerous.
Fish and game biologist David Saalfeld says he was called to the neighborhood Wednesday after people had surrounded the bears. Saalfeld says some were taking photographs of the animals, which had all climbed up a tree.
Fish and Game spokesman Ken Marsh says the sow began exhibiting defence behavior, such as popping her teeth and huffing.
Some aren’t happy with the plan, with Stephanie Kesler, president of the neighbourhood’s community council, voicing her disappointment.
“Yesterday I was very, very, very angry with my fellow human beings,” she says.
People seeking to save their bears want city officials to relocate them but officials say that’s not an option.
The bears, they say, could transfer disease to other populations, adding that the bears would likely return to Anchorage anyway.
They just can’t stay away.
- With reporting from Rónán Duffy
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