Four bears killed in Alaska campground after entering tents for food, officials say

Four black bears broke into tents at an Alaska campground and were killed for it, wildlife officials said.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game said its employees killed four bears Tuesday, July 5, after they entered tents at an Anchorage campground.

The bears included a sow and its two cubs and another adult bear.

“(The bears) were entering tents to access food and other attractant, including personal hygiene items and trash,” Fish and Game said in a July 6 news release. “Bears entering tents or other structures pose a risk to human safety.”

Wildlife officials said if a bear is “considered a public safety threat,” it can be killed by the department.

The campground previously had problems with black bears. In recent years, however, wildlife officials said campers have become more compliant in storing their food and avoiding bear conflicts.

In June, the campground was repurposed by city officials to be a site for people experiencing homelessness, Alaska Public Media reported.

The city canceled campers’ reservations at Centennial Campground, and dozens of people were bused to the campground after a shelter in the area closed, according to the news outlet.

Bears getting into the campground could’ve created a lasting problem, Fish and Game said. Once bears get access to food in a specific location, they tend to keep going back to it.

“Keeping bears away from human food is the most important part of preventing conflicts and reducing confrontations between bears and people,” officials said. “Bears are creatures of habit and will seek out the same wild foods in the same places year after year.”

Anchorage area biologist Dave Battle said staff at the campground are working to minimize the amount of food and other bear attractants that may be left behind in tents.

Campers leaving food out now could create problems for people using the campground in the future, Battle said.

“Killing any particular bear is a very temporary solution,” he said in the news release. “There are always going to be more bears in that vicinity because of its location, and we can’t teach bears not to eat what they can find.”

Bears’ noses are “100 times more sensitive” than human noses, and they can smell food up to 5 miles away, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said on its website.

They can also seek out trash that smells like food or scented products, such as air fresheners, wipes or perfume. Bears are smart animals and will come back to a location where they’ve found food.

“A person who allows bears to feed on improperly stored food or garbage is putting other people at risk,” Alaska officials said. “Leaving out bear attractants such as garbage, birdseed or fish waste can draw bears into neighborhoods or campsites.”

This story was originally published July 7, 2022 at 8:36 AM with the headline "Four bears killed in Alaska campground after entering tents for food, officials say."