Expert Offers Advice On Living with Bears

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Category: News

Created on Thursday, 21 November 2024 15:45

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By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    As residents continue sighting bears close to town, the Department of Fish and Game says killing them when they enter residential areas isn’t the answer.
    “That’s a total nonstarter,” F&G area management biologist Steve Bethune said today. “It’s not appropriate, it’s illegal ... you’re never going to get public support for a policy like that.”

A resident bear tests a dumpster at the Fortress of the Bear in April 2023. (Sentinel File Photo by James Poulson)

    Bethune was addressing an idea raised by Sitka Tribe of Alaska in the government to government meeting with the city on Monday, when about half of the meeting was spent on bears and management of household garbage in areas such as the Indian River subdivision.
    Discussing a different but related issue, Bethune sent out a news release Wednesday reminding hunters about the proper way to cache the meat after dressing out a deer carcass in the woods. That advice came on the heels of two incidents close to town. In one, a hunter was attacked and killed by a bear as he was retrieving the second part of a deer he had shot, Fish and Game said. In the other incident, hunters cached deer carcasses in order to continue hunting, and returned to find their harvest “claimed by bears.”
    Those situations are different from cases in which bears are attracted to garbage they find in town but authorities say both situations highlight the need for renewed awareness in the community about living and recreating in “bear habitat.”
    “On one hand you’ve got people who don’t think a bear should ever be killed for any reason, and on the other you’ve got people that want every bear killed that comes into the city,” Bethune said. “And public opinion varies widely within those extreme spectrums.”
    The discussion at the government meeting at one point focused on brainstorming possible solutions to bears becoming habituated to particular areas, including Indian River, and the difficulties some households have in following recommendations to keep their garbage from attracting bears.
    “The Indian River subdivision keeps coming up,” Bethune said. “It’s a small housing development that’s kind of isolated, there’s a lot of green space, and it’s built on basically the banks of a prolific salmon stream. It’s fantastic bear habitat. There should be an expectation that people living in bear habitat are going to see more bear activity. ... And as long as people are leaving attractants out in the neighborhoods bears are going to keep looking for that.”
    While Indian River does see a lot of bear activity, Bethune said his advice is the same “irrespective of neighborhood or economic spectrum of the neighborhood.”
    About 25 percent of the bears killed in the last five years out of concern for public safety were in or near the Indian River subdivision. One out of the seven killed this year – five by authorities, two by residents – was at the edge of the neighborhood.
    “We’re just about people and protecting people,” Bethune said. “The idea that we’re ignoring the Indian River area is not true.”
    As to whose responsibility it is to address bear issues in town, it depends on who you ask.
    “The city and the tribe and residents are saying Fish and Game needs to do something, and Fish and Game is saying, no, the city and the tribe and the residents need to figure out how to reduce attractants, to not bring as many bears into town,” Bethune said.
    While Bethune’s advice is unchanged from his previous recommendations – keeping garbage indoors until trash day, freezing putrescible waste, taking garbage to the transfer station – he said other communities have different solutions that have worked. Hoonah bought bear resistant cans and dumpsters, and started twice a week garbage pickup, which has resulted in fewer bear problems, he said.
    Most Indian River subdivision residents follow recommendations to avoid attracting bears but, he added, “It only takes a few to ruin it for everybody else.”
    He said there are no simple solutions, but there are costs to living in Sitka. “Sitka’s a postage stamp of civilization within the wilderness; we’re always going to have bears. We need to figure out how to live in harmony with them. Just indiscriminately removing every bear is not sustainable.”
    Hunters must take precautions of their own when they’re in the woods, the wildlife biologist said.
    Many bears have entered dens to hibernate but hunters are still reporting tracks and fresh sign in many areas, and it’s not unusual for some bears to remain active into December, Bethune said.
    “Brown bears are in hyperphagia right now, an intense period of feeding in order to pack on pounds for a long winter’s sleep,” he said. “Finding a deer carcass is a bonanza which a bear may aggressively defend.”
    In a list of recommendations, he said hunters should field dress and pack their game back to their boat or vehicle as soon as possible. “The longer a deer is left in the field the more likely a bear will find it. Also deer left ungutted are more prone to meat spoilage even with cooler winter temperatures.”
    Although he recommends not caching meat in the field, those who do should:
–– Move deer away from the gut pile, at least 100 yards.
–– Take a GPS waypoint at the cache, so you know you are getting close when you return and need to be extra cautious.
–– Hang the cache in an area of high visibility where you can see it from a safe distance. When you return, make noise, approach from upwind and make your presence known. Have your firearm ready.
–– Hang the deer as high as possible – 15 feet up or more. This requires having the necessary gear (ropes, block and tackle.)
–– Leaving a piece of clothing nearby will leave human scent in the area.
    “While procuring venison for the year is a vital part of the lifestyle of many Southeast Alaskans, returning safely from the hunt should always be the number one priority,” Bethune said. “Being mindful of bears is a necessary precaution that can’t be overlooked.”