18 June 2014

And You Thought YOU Had Problems

A black bear sow and two cubs that have been making appearances in Anchorage's U-Med district in recent days showed up Monday at a children's day camp on the campus of Alaska Pacific University and stole several lunchboxes, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Black Bear and Cubs UAA
A mother black bear exits a dumpster near the parking garage along Alumni Drive on the UAA campus on Saturday, June 14, 2014. The bear and her two spring cubs have bee frequenting the area. BOB HALLINEN — Anchorage Daily News



The bears sauntered onto the university's soccer fields around 11:45 a.m., soon after the campers attending Camp Si-La-Meo finished eating lunch at canopy-covered picnic tables nearby, said Katie Adrian, program manager at the camp.

"All that was left in their lunches were snacks for later in the afternoon," she said. "(The bears) were sort of wandering in and out. They did not show any aggression at all."

Camp staff corralled the children playing a few yards away when they spied the trio approaching. The bears carried a few lunchboxes into the woods and ripped them open. Eventually, they simply walked away, Adrian said.

Dave Battle, an assistant area wildlife biologist with Fish and Game, said the department had no plans Tuesday to remove the bears from the area, but said, "I can't say what's going to happen over the next few days."

The bears have not shown signs of aggression toward humans. Fish and Game does not consider them a public safety hazard, Battle said. Plus, he said, the species' presence in the area is typical.

"We have bears going through there every year. This is not a unique situation. They go through Baxter Bog and they go through UAA and APU campus," Battle said.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, Yogi and Boo-Boo DO exist!

gfa

Rev. Paul said...

Alive & well in Anchorage; apparently Jellystone was too well picked-over. :)

Well Seasoned Fool said...

All is well untill some idiot tries to pet them.

Rev. Paul said...

True enough, WSF. Hasn't happened yet; doesn't mean it won't.

Cathy said...

I'm thinking it'd be tough raising kids with big carnivores like that in the environs.

Rev. Paul said...

Cathy, believe it or not, it's like growing up with anything else: you think of it as a normal part of your life.