Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Steve Bethune shot a bear on Andrew Hope Street early this morning, following reports of a destructive bear in the Indian River Subdivision.
Police reported Saturday that a bear tore the door off a shed to get to a garbage can, and on Sunday a bear in the same area tore through a garage door to get to the garbage stored inside.
Bethune said today that after receiving a text message from police with a picture of a garage door that had been broken down by a bear, he gave the "green light" to police, Alaska State Troopers and his own agency to shoot the bear.
The residential break-ins presented "a pretty specific public safety issue" that prompted the decision to kill the bear, Bethune said.
On Monday and Tuesday nights, Bethune "posted up during the night" in the subdivision to watch for the bear.
Bethune said the male bear weighed about 225 pounds, and was about three years old.
He said he's "not 100% positive that it's the target bear" involved in the property damage, as authorities didn't "get eyes on" that specific bear.
There's at least one other bear in the area that's possibly bigger than the one he killed today, Bethune said.
Bear sows and cubs also have been spotted, mainly in the area of Edgecumbe Drive and Cascade Creek, he said.
"And there's a lone cub that never went into the den this winter that's still frequenting neighborhoods," Bethune said.
