Alaska State Wildlife Trooper Colin Nemec is investigating the cause of death of a sow whose carcass was found in the woods behind the Eagles Nest Motel Sunday. Officers shot the sow’s two cubs the same day because there was no facility capable of taking the animals, which were too young to survive on their own, Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Carl Koch said.
“It seemed like the bear was dead from at least the day before,” Koch said. “There was a bag of garbage next to the bear. It was in a wooded area but it was not super far from residences.”
There were several reports of a bear on Sawmill Road, an area across the street from the Eagles Nest Motel, last week and a report of shots fired near the area on Friday at 9:30 p.m., two days before the sow was found dead.
Six bears have been shot by law enforcement in the past several months. Police killed a sow and two cubs in June after multiple reports that the brown bear was damaging property. Another sow was killed after approaching a home on Skyline Drive. That homeowner was ticketed for creating a bear attractant. Another resident was ticketed June 25 on Deishu Drive for the same offense.
Outside the townsite, two additional bears were shot by individuals. One person legally killed a bear in defense of life and property and another shot and wounded a bear that was chasing his dog.
Koch said bear activity might persist in the fall especially if pink and chum salmon return in low numbers.
“If we have poor fish runs again it will continue to be an issue,” Koch said. “Everybody says it’s all about the landfill. One of the incidents was about 20 miles out the road. They’re not all related to the landfill. It’s definitely a contributing factor.”
Community Waste Solutions has recently taken steps to reduce bear attractants including construction of more fencing, covering exposed garbage and creating more bear-proof containers at the facility.