ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska wildlife officers have killed 4 black bears in a campground not too long ago reserved for individuals in Anchorage who’re homeless after the town’s largest shelter was closed.
Employees from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game on Tuesday killed a sow and her two cubs and one other grownup bear that was appearing individually, stealing food from tents inside Centennial Park, which is managed by the town, officers mentioned.
Anchorage is Alaska’s greatest metropolis, with almost 300,000 residents, however it’s also bear nation.
The park is positioned in east Anchorage, nestled between Chugach State Park and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, which state wildlife officers describe as an unlimited bear habitat.
The Department of Fish and Game mentioned Anchorage residents share the municipality with as much as 350 American black bears and as much as 65 brown bears.
“Certainly it’s a busy bear time for us all across Anchorage,” mentioned division spokesperson Cynthia Wardlow.
This a part of Anchorage “does tend to be a pretty active bear area because of the high- density housing,” she mentioned.
The metropolis closed its pandemic mass shelter at Sullivan Arena on June 30. The enviornment had housed lots of of homeless individuals all through the final two years, Alaska Public Media reported.
When the shelter closed, some people who find themselves homeless moved to Centennial Park, grabbing the 84 out there spots after the campground stopped taking reservations from the general public.
Corey Allen Young, a spokesperson for Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson, mentioned there are 210 individuals dwelling at Centennial Park, and the town has offered enhanced safety for camp customers.
The metropolis “has also brought in 60 bear proof food storage containers, 20 bear proof 32 gallon containers and is doing hourly clean up efforts to mitigate the trash and food. We also continue to inspect camps and educate campers about bear safe practices,” Young mentioned in an e-mail.
The campground, simply off the Glenn Highway, is “an ideal jumping-off point for Alaska travelers,” the town’s web site says. But it additionally warns campers to not retailer food inside tents or exterior in coolers so bears should not drawn to campsites.
Wildlife officers mentioned earlier than the bears have been killed, they have been coming into tents to get food, private hygiene gadgets and trash.
When bears go inside tents or buildings, they pose a danger to human life and are thought of a public security risk, and so they could also be killed.
“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, the Fish and Game division space biologist in Anchorage, mentioned in an announcement. “Until that changes, more bears are going to come into the campground and get into tents.”
He mentioned it is a security concern for campers.
“Killing any particular bear is a very temporary solution, “Battle said. “There are always going to be more bears in that vicinity because of its location, and we can’t teach bears not to eat what they can find.”
