By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Three bears prowling for food and garbage in the Gavan Subdivision were shot and killed by officers Tuesday evening, Sitka Police Department reported today.
Police Sgt. Brad Wheeler said the decision to destroy the small sow and two yearling cubs at 1410 Johnston Street came following reports of the three going onto porches, looking into windows and entering garages.
“Two days ago they tried to get into a house – going on a porch and pushing in a door,” he said.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Steve Bethune said he has been receiving regular reports about bear calls from Sitka police. But in the last few days, he has seen “an escalation of potentially dangerous behavior,” which has included reports of a sow and two cubs in neighborhoods along Halibut Point Road, as far out as Darrin Drive in the 3300 block, and Sollars Trailer Court. Other calls came in from Wortman Loop, Georgeson Loop, and Johnston Street. Their behavior has become more bold, the biologist said.
“They’ve gone from nighttime garbage raids, to more daylight activity, being seemingly unafraid of people, and less affected by hazing efforts,” Bethune said.
Wheeler agreed that the bear calls became more frequent. What concerned officers and Fish and Game was that this group of bears could not be deterred with yelling or various noisemaking devices, increasing the probability of a “negative encounter,” Bethune said.
Three bears rummage through trash outside a Sitka residence. Police later shot the animals, on Johnston Street. (Photo provided to the Sentinel)
The final call to police reported a bear trying to push in a window in the back of a house on Johnston Street, in the Gavan subdivision.
Wheeler said about a week ago residents in the 4600 block of Halibut Point Road tried to haze the bears away by shooting into the air. It didn’t work – and this practice isn’t safe, the sergeant said.
“Ultimately, they have to be destroyed – we can’t let anyone get hurt,” Wheeler said.
He attributed most of the problem to improper care of household garbage, which led to the bears becoming habituated to feeding on it. The problem worsened as bears became undeterred by noise, and had gotten to the point that they were entering garages and in one case going onto a porch seeking food.
Wheeler said the police in these cases defer to Fish and Game, which recommended “putting them down” if there was an opportunity to do it safely, to prevent the bears from injuring someone.
“It’s not that we want to or that it’s fun, we’re doing it because we have to,” Wheeler said.
“I communicate closely with police and I try to give the bears every opportunity to return to natural feeding behavior,” Bethune said. “The police have the green light any time there is an imminent safety threat, to euthanize bears. But they do defer to me. In this case, I instructed them to do that if there was a safe opportunity (to use firearms in a neighborhood).”
In the hours leading up to the shooting of the bears, there were bear activity calls from Georgeson Loop, Charteris Street, Mills Street, and the 2000 and 3000 block of Halibut Point Road.
After the three bears were destroyed, calls continued to come in, police said, with bears reported at Whale Park and at SEARHC Clinic II on Japonski Island.
The carcasses of the bears killed Tuesday night were turned over to the Department of Fish and Game.
