Two grizzlies killed by Kenai Peninsula residents
Published Sunday, May 18, 2008
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KENAI -- Two Kenai Peninsula grizzlies have died this spring at the hands of residents defending life or property.
The bear deaths follow a mauling of a jogger by a bear sow with two cubs April 18 in Kenai.
The first bear killed was a sub-adult female grizzly on May 4 at a home on Funny River Road. Jeff Selinger, area management wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the bear was a repeat offender.
"It had gotten into a freezer on more than one occasion and the homeowner had taken a lot of precautions to keep bears out of the freezer, so it was justified," he said.
The second shooting took place Tuesday off Crooked Creek Road in Kasilof.
"A man was walking his dog when a bear came out and he felt threatened so he shot it," Selinger said. The incident is under review by the department.
Selinger said May seems to be a typical time of year for the first defense of life and property shootings on the peninsula.
On May 1, 2006, a sub-adult male brown bear was shot at the Solid Rock Bible Camp. The first shooting last year took place during the first week of May when a grizzly charged a lone man hunting for moose antlers in Ninilchik.
"Bears come out and they're lethargic at first, but by now they're moving around," he said. "Moose calves haven't dropped yet though, so it's a lean time of year for bears. They go to where food is at, and often get shot."
Several other Kenai Peninsula bears have had contact with humans.
On May 9, a grizzly got into garbage at a home in the Mackey Lake Road area.
On Tuesday, a Ninilchik man shot at a bear getting into his chicken pen, which had no electric fencing. He hit the bear in the neck with bird shot from his .410 shotgun, Selinger said.
"We do not recommend doing that. If your going to shoot at a bear, shoot to kill, not to wound," he said.
On Wednesday, a sow with one cub got into a freezer in Sterling. Selinger said the homeowner did not have measures in place to prevent the bears from gaining access to the food in the freezers, but planned to do so.
Selinger said most negative bear incidents can be avoided by minimizing attractants - placing garbage in bear-resistant containers and making frequent trips to haul it off. Chest freezers full of fish, moose and other food items should be secured with ratchet straps or locking latches, he said.
Native birds should be provided only with a bird bath, not seed or suet in summer.
Residents should make sure beehives and livestock such as pigs, goats, chickens and rabbits are protected with electric fencing and that livestock and pet feed is stored securely, he said.
Community Discussion
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The environmentalist are going to have a field day for this.
The environmentalist are going to have a field day with this.
Before I comment, I'll call my friends in Kenai.
No-one in their right mind has a compost on the front porch.
'How much of the rear of the jogging suit was the bear able to digest?'
It's another cause for ALARMIST to go crazy. Your guilty for everything of anything you do where you did anything of not. Sure he was justified it was going to kill him but that won't be written it's bears dying. So doen't matter the cause deliberately or in deliberately. The out come will read every bear is under attack. Because it's human fault. That's the ALARMIST rational on everything.
In looking over the comments so far it appears the only alarmist in the bunch is Nightshade....
Where have all the bear huggers gone off to? Eaten perhaps?
Don't know that's while I made such a big deal outta it but looks like you might be right. Could only hope.
I am just waiting to hear from all those folks who were outraged about the shooting of the bear in Ft. Yukon. But here they're protecting chickens, so I guess it's ok...and no pictures of blood to offend. I guess the Newsminer learned its lesson on that one.
I agree with Dobieman. I find the grizzly fact that someone sits at their computer from 5:20 at night until 3:30 the next morning rather alarming.
I hate to point out the obvious, but if Nightshade is here on the East Coast, he read this item the first time at 9:00 in the evening when the first on-line edition was made available, then turned his computer on first thing this morning (7:30) and over a cup of coffee checked to see what other knuckleheads (like me) are worrying about grizzlies in the Kenai thousands of miles away...!
Or, alternatively, the guy doesn't sleep much.
wtf. Who in their right mind would use bird shot on a grizzly? If he wasn't about to get mauled before, I believe that would have given the bear plenty of incentive to do so then. Shoot to kill, don't piss the bear off.
I have two childeren 6-5 sleep still isn't that important anymore. But anyway I seen it when it first came up. I was really thinking the bear problem might be getting to much publicity. But today this morning there was a msnbc story about bears (mountain lion?) attack.
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