4 Bears Killed That Entered Alaska Tents At Camp Reserved For Unhoused

ANCHORAGE, AK — Alaskan wildlife officials killed four black bears that they said were entering tents at an Anchorage campground reserved for people experiencing homelessness.

Employees of the state Department of Fish and Game killed a sow, her two cubs and a separate adult bear Tuesday afternoon, officials said in a news release.

The campground, managed by Anchorage, is located along the edge of the "big woods" of Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson and Chugach State Park. It's home to vast areas of bear habitat, and the four bears were entering tents in search of food and other items, such as personal hygiene goods and trash, officials said.

Bears that enter tents endanger people and are considered a public safety threat and can be killed by wildlife officers.

"Historically, Centennial Campground has had black bear conflicts,butin recent years has worked with ADF&G to increase their camper compliance and enforce their rules for food storage," the department said in its news release. "Keeping bears away from human food is the most important part of preventing conflicts and reducing confrontations between bears and people."

Corey Allen Young, a spokesperson for Anchorage’s mayor, Dave Bronson, told The Associated Press about 210 people live at Centennial Park.

The city has brought in 60 bear-proof food storage containers, 20 bear-proof 32-gallon containers and is performing hourly cleanup efforts to reduce trash and food accumulation.

Fish and Game department spokesperson Cynthia Wardlow told AP the campground tends to be an active bear area because of the high- density housing. The city closed its pandemic mass shelter at Sullivan Arena on June 30, where hundreds of unhoused people were living for the last two years, Alaska Public Media reported. When it closed, many moved to Centennial Park.

Bears are creatures of habit. They will seek out the same wild foods in the same places each year. Similarly, bears can become conditioned to eating human food and return to neighborhoods, campgrounds, and trash bins until they no longer find food.

“Centennial Campground staff are doing the best they can to manage the campground and minimize attractants, but there are still a lot of tents with food in them," Dave Battle, Anchorage area biologist, said in a statement. “Until that changes, more bears are going to come into the campground and get into tents. That's a safety issue both for the people staying there now, and anyone who stays there after them."

Killing bears is a "very temporary solution," Battle said. More bears will be in the area due to the campground's location, and people can't teach bears to avoid eating what they find.

"Leaving out bear attractants such as garbage, birdseed or fish waste can draw bears into neighborhoods or campsites," the department said. "It is against the law to feed bears and it is also against the law to kill a bear you have attracted by improperly storing human food, animal food, or garbage."

Anchorage is Alaska's largest city with a human population of about 280,000, accounting for about 40 percent of the state's population. They share the area with about 250–350 American black bears and 55–65 grizzly bears, which live between the Knik River and Portage, including Chugach State Park.

Both black and brown bears are found near developed areas, drawn primarily by natural foods.

"Most Anchorage residents appreciate, or at least tolerate, bears in the city, but it's in the best interest of the public and bears to minimize the potential for maulings," officials said on the state Fish and Game website.