Got Bears?
Dear Editor: Got bears? Got bears where they don’t belong? Non-profit Defenders of Wildlife will help Sitka residents and landowners obtain and install electrified fences to keep bears out of things they shouldn’t get into. Defenders will also reimburse 50% of your cost up to $500.
Electric fences are an effective and relatively inexpensive way to keep bears out of chicken coops, garbage, beehives, fruit trees, smokers, and other attractants that can draw hungry and curious bears to your property.
The program is now offered in Sitka after requests from Southeast Alaska communities. It is supported by the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit & Haida), U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
A similar program on the Kenai Peninsula over the past three years has proven highly effective and well-received. Kenai property owners received advice and funding to install electric fences and have been happy with the peace of mind of reducing bear conflicts on their properties.
Fostering coexistence between humans and bears is a critical component of bear conservation. Alaska bears are not currently listed as threatened or endangered, but they are still susceptible to a combination of human and environmental factors, the most significant often being human-caused mortality. In certain areas of Southeast Alaska, bear mortality has reached record highs.
Bears support Southeast Alaska’s biodiversity and economies. During salmon season, bears drag their catch through the forest, where the salmon carcasses enrich the soil and promote increased forest growth. Bear scat also fertilizes and distributes plants. As bears move through different areas, seeds from their scat spread plants to new locations and increase the biodiversity in these areas. Bears also keep prey populations in check, preventing plant life from being over-grazed and riverbanks from eroding.
In Southeast Alaska communities, bears bring significant economic value. Some have estimated the worth of a bear at $1-2 million over its lifetime for wildlife viewing tours. A mature bear can be worth up to $18,000 to a professional guide.
However, these benefits do not mean that living with bears is without difficulty. Interactions between bears and people can be hazardous and occur most frequently in summer and fall.
In the late summer and fall, bears enter a period of activity known as hyperphagia. Characterized by excessive eating and drinking, hyperphagia prepares bears for their next hibernation.
Their single-minded focus on finding and eating food during this period often leads them directly into people’s backyards. Bears cannot understand that we don’t want them to eat out of our trash cans, gardens, beehives, and chicken coops. Unfortunately, attempting to intervene in a bear’s natural behavior patterns can cause them to become aggressive toward people, especially during this period.
Keeping bears and people safe requires effective coexistence strategies like electric fencing, bear-resistant trash and food containers and other bear-aware safety measures. Expanding programs that provide these coexistence tools will help bears and people safely share Southeast Alaska.
You can learn more about living safely with bears Saturday, May 20, at events hosted by Alaska Department of Fish and Game and Defenders of Wildlife:
•10 a.m. to noon: Fortress of the Bear – Come watch bears try to destroy bear resistant garbage cans, coolers, and more.
•1 p.m. to 3 p.m.: Sitka National Historical Park – Come learn about bear behavior and living with bears.
For more information about the Electric Fence Incentive Program or to apply for funds to install an electric fence, go to www.defenders.org/got-bears.
Isabel Grant, Defenders of Wildlife
