May be of interest to folks here:

Bear Attacks Hiker, Kills Dog in Sitka, Alaska

Maybe BW knows more.

Good thing (for the hiker) that brownies don't climb trees and good thing he had a cell phone, though I still hate the things

[ 05-06-2003, 18:55: Message edited by: Lars G ]

Does anyone know the circumstances beheind the attack? Any additional info?

cwilson

Yup, just proves again what I always say. "There ain't no such thing as a little bear".
Bear in Fairbanks

Yep,

The hiker is the local veterinarian out on his daily morning hike with two of his dogs. The dog that got killed was older, and was lagging behind as usual. At the end of the trail, the vet realized his dog was farther behind than normal and couldn't be found. The vet returned home, dropped off the other dog, and returned to search. He heard a 'woof', about 15 yards away, realized that there was an upset bear nearby, and backed off. From what I gather, he climbed the tree as a precaution and called the authorities.

The locals killed it with a shotgun and a 458 Win Mag. The vet was able to recover parts of his missing dog.

Killed the bear cause the bear killed a dog! Give me a break,who knows maybe it was self defense on the bears part.They should have fined the vet for tormenting the bear with his mutt.And I thought all the idiots lived in the lower 48.This is proof positive at least some live in Alaska too!

[ 05-06-2003, 23:04: Message edited by: rws2 ]

Hmmmm . . . an interesting perspective from the boys "down south." Here's what is says in the Regs:

Alaska F&G Regulations

Emergency Taking of Game

"In Defense of Life or Property:"

"You may kill kill game animals in defense of you life or property if you did not provoke an attack or cause a problem by negligently leaving human or pet food or garbage in a manner that attracts wildlife and if you have done everything else you can to protect your life and property."

"Property means your dwelling, means of travel, pets or livestock, . . . . "

Remember, it was the rescuers that shot the bear, not the vet. Were they defeding the life of the vet's dog? No . . . it was already dead at that point. Did the bear threaten the lives of the rescuers - I don't know. I would agree that just because the bear killed the dog, doesn't necessarily justify eliminating the bear. I'll leave it to the lawyers to determine if anything illegal was done, but if the dog was already dead, how can you be defending its life by shooting the bear?

Killed a bear cause it removed and old hound- christ what stupidity!!!! I could see if the bear actually attacked the guy but it never made a try for him it just said get away from my dinner!!!

Now if you or I shot a bear like that we'd be put in jail for along time. !!

Hey guys, the Juneau Empire readily accepts letters to the editor (there's a button right there on the page I posted a link to,) especially those that slam us Alaskan idiots!! While you're at it, make sure to comment about wolf control - that's a real sensitive topic. Seems that us Alaskan's want to preserve trophy hunting opportunities (moose, caribou, sheep, etc.) so all you lower-48 hunters can adorn you walls and trophy rooms, but's there big pressure from the tourism industry that this will drive away tourists who actually want to see a live wolf. Be sure to tell us what you think about this one too!!!

P.S. - I've read what you lower 48 guys think about the wolves reintroduction to Yellowstone!!!

Put some robotic wolves out for the bunny-hugger tourists to look at & shoot the real ones.

Brent and rws2 -- How would you feel if your children or grandchildren walked that same path daily. A Bear isn't particular about a meal. A dog today a child tomorrow. The idiots posting here are not from Alaska.

Hey what an idea,I can come to Alaksa with some old pound mutt and then take a walk in bear counrty and then hope a bear attacks the mutt and then blast the bear! tell the authorities I was defending property you know!!!! probably won't get to keep the bear but I will have gotten away with killing it.
Since I really don't know the whole circumstances surrounding the bear/dog inccident and will probably never know and really don't care one way or another.It just seems to me if you play with fire you should expect to get burnt sooner or later,but don't blame the fire!
Based on the limited info posted here it sounds like the bear was killed for killing a damned dog and eating it.But since your allowed to defend property in Alaska what the hell.You guys should be killing all kinds of property damaging wildlife. Oh Well it takes all kinds to make up this wonderful world we all live in.

[ 05-07-2003, 00:44: Message edited by: rws2 ]

rws2,

You missed the whole point by what I read from your last post. If a bear like this gets a meal as easy as this dog, do you think this bear will likely forget anytime soon? Probably not. This is a trail used by hikers and who else knows what, including animals. Like one poster already said: dog one day, child the next.

Please, stay in West Virginia.

Good thing they killed it. It showed that it will hunt near a hiking trail, and from then on it may associate any sounds coming down the trail as a potential meal. Maybe a tourist from the lower 48? What if instead of that dog it was the vet's young grandson, or grandmother, etc. Come on, it's just a bear, I'm sure mother nature will make more.

I agree- the life of this animal is a small price to pay for safety. why take a chance?

Well now some of you guys feel offended by what I have posted.
I don't suppose we will ever change one anothers minds on this issue.But I do see your points about kids getting ate and in that case I choose kids over bears everytime.

Bearstalker,
"Please,stay in West Virginia" not a chance! I'll go anywhere I damn well please.By the way your still welcome to come on down to West By God Virginia and visit,we ain't half bad people and you'd probably like most of us and enjoy yourself.

Wow, didn't expect this sort of reaction!

Guess it shows that hunters really do care about wildlife.

Anyhow, this is a actively used trail system. It interconnects several other trails in the area. History, and experienced, have proven that a bear that starts attacking pets, or eating garbage, may become a serious threat to humans. This wasn't about the dog, it was about public safety.

Some bears seem to live peacefully around human populations. They are often spotted in certain areas, but never cause problems. I for one, refuse to hunt these bears, because I worry about the temperament of the next bear that will move into the vacated territory.

Other bears seem to be trouble bears though. There's no rehabilitation program for these 'bad bears'. Even when relocated, they have been known to travel great distances back to their home range.

We've got lot's of bears (brown and black) these days in S.E. Alaska. It was a smart move to eliminate this one.

Funny in a way. When you raise dogs, and you get a bad one, you put it down.

I guess Alaska takes the same approach. Bad genes?

S

Dang it guys, you gotta remember, this bear was equipped with weapons of mass distruction. A precision F-16 air strike from Eilson or Elmendorf AFB to take care of this threat would have been warranted. Unfortunately, these resources had other priorities on Monday and could not respond. (Must . . . get . . . tongue . . . unstuck . . . from side of mouth!!!)

Since is was a local police officer, state trooper, or ADF&G official (article did not specify) who shot the bear, it must have been o.k., since they are above the law, right? Relax boys, there are plenty of bears for you to come up and shoot. That did look like a pretty big one though, didn't it?

I a bear would come eat the barking mutts in my kennel tonight, I'd give him a high five.
Dang mutts kept me up barking all last night.

I agree with those lower 48 tourists. I'd really like to see live wolves too. Especially when I was toting a rifle and a full magazine.

Well, lets' see. Every year we have tourists mauled or killed by griz here. A few years ago, a child was attacked by a wolf down on the reservation. Another killed by a mountain lion. Dogs taken when they are being walked on a leash in Whitefish by lions. Another attacked in Glacier by a lion in a campground.

These were targets of opportunity. If the guy would have been walking a bit slower, he could have well been lunch. A griz or a brownie are not afraid of people.

Those not living among these critters get awful misty eyed about them. Those who see the killing and mauling have a somewhat different opinion. Some one who has visited the west for even a year or two don't get the contact as the long time residents do, and don't hear of all the backcountry incidents that are handled by the involved parties, without assistance of the officials.

FYI

1. If you kill a bear in defense in AK you will have to report it to the state.
2. It is your responsibility to remove the cape and skull and turn it over to the fish and game/trooper.
3. You will be investigated and the circumstances will have to prove that you were correct in what you did. Did you leave garbage in your yard? Dog food outside? Messy campsite?
4. If you were wrong, kiss your ass good bye.

Somebody correct me if I missed something, but wasn't the HUMAN vet still up the tree when he called the Fishcops? Now, why might a presumably educated fellow be up the tree, eh? To protect his property? I think not.

If I understand the story correctly, the uniforms blasted the bear because he had the man treed, not to protect the already dead property.

Please brother Alaskans, don't lump us southerners (never thought I'd describe Montana that way ) all together. Many of the same problems exist here as well. I ain't opening the wolf/griz/cat can of worms again. Gee-zus!

Then again, the bears do chew up quite a few pairs of Birckenstocks each summer in Glacier.

Redial

It's not a normal thing for a bear to go after a dog for dinner.

They'll kill doge that pursue them, btthis was an "opportunistic" bear. All bears are opportunists when it comes to protein, but dogs are usually not on the menu...

They hate wolves, though.

I must admit when I first read the article I didn't think much of it.

Bear kills dog near frequently used human trail= problem bear/ possibly dangerous to humans = dead bear.

If my neighbors dog was a ttacked by a bear, I'd go investiate it to see if it was a chance occurance, and if it wasn't, I'd kill the bear.

I think it would be wise to wait until all the details of this case are made public. Just because a bear has eaten a dog does not mean that a bear has to be destroyed. The law does not allow for such an action.

Keep in mind that in Alaska we have had several cases of bears attacking people, and in the past 100 years at least 57 people have been killed by bears (one person every other year, or so). We also had a case where a wolf bit a child several times as it tried to drag the child into the brush to eat him. This wolf was killed. We often lose domestic dogs to wolves. The wolves come into town and kill dogs for food. These wolves usually get away without being killed. A couple of years ago, three grizzly bears ran a young man, his wife, and a child into a lake. The water was very cold, so the family perished before the bears had moved away. These bears had been chasing after people before pushing the family into the water. I believe one of the bears was finally killed, and the others left town. Some bears are caught and relocated, while others are killed. Those bears that become accustomed to humans or human food are "problem bears," just like those three bears above, and sooner or later switch from human food, dogs, etc., to humans.

Again, I would wait until the full details are made public. For the time being, the following site provides information about bears in Alaska. Take a look at the "Slide Presentation":

http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/brownbears/century.htm

Hey, I don't know diddly-squat about bears or what goes on in Alaska.

But I have lots of opinions.

Is this where I'm supposed to post?

Oops. Almost forgot - .

You got it, Recono!

I was thinking the same thing....

If I posted a news article "Man shoots another man", there would probably be 100 flaming posts arguing whether it was self-defense or murder!

Facts? Details? Who needs 'em?

All we have here is a bear being shot, and the "idiot" label is already flying back and forth.

Rick.

daveinthebush
That's exact what I was saying- though the bear killed the dog -he did not try to kill the Human.
Anyone who has been in Bear country knows -especially Griz/brown country you are in there domain and you are the one that needs to be careful not to present one self as dinner. Walk around stupid and you will most likely become dinner!!! I know bears will take an easy snack when its presented be it dog -cat-kid -adult food is food. You Alaska-boys need to relax. I just hate to see and animal wastsed because of a stupid dog got killed. Believe me I would have been packing on that trail -cell phone hell that bear would have been shot by me!!!

[ 05-07-2003, 19:36: Message edited by: Gunnut45/454 ]

Well Brent, as much as I usually agree with most of your previous posts, I can't on this one. You guys in the Lower 48 don't hunt in large bear country all the time. Grizzlies in your neck of the woods are few and far between. One of the 4 types of bears are quite common somewhere in virtually all of the state. Yup, Polar bears go into towns up on the slope looking for a "freebies" on ocassion too. True, the bear was killed by the authorities. It was felt that it could become a danger to the public if left alone. As was posted earlier, one can legally kill a bear in protection of life or property. Dogs are property. Many people in the Interior own sled dogs, these animals aren't your run of the mill "Fifi" so common down in your neck of the woods. They are expensive, well trained animals that aren't left to run loose. I happen to own one and he's constantly tied up. I can tell you that if I had a black bear problem (that's all we have in my area), I wouldn't think twice about shooting it. Being tied up puts my dog at a tremendous disadvantage.
It would be greatly appreciated if you Lower 48 pontificators would quit telling we Alaskans how to live our lives. I and many others up here are tired of it. Instead of telling us how to live, why don't you move up here, get a job & find out what it's really like? Enough rambling, I wrote more than I intended. Now jump my case if ya want to. Bear in Fairbanks

Brent: The Valdez story is true. If I recall correctly, I happened to be fishing in Valdez at the time or left shortly before it happened. Sorry, don't know about the Tucson incident.
Bear in Fairbanks

Gents,

I find it somewhat odd, that some expressed the view, that since the dog was dead, the bear should not have been killed.

That's like saying...

"Let's not go after a murderer, because the victim is already dead."

Bears are animals, dogs are animals. Why do some of you put a higher value on the bears life? If there was a rabid dog running around town, who here wouldn't kill it? It's the same with problem bears.

We're not talking about someone driving 100 miles to 'experience wilderness', then running into a bear. We're talking about a town where walking ten feet off the road put's you smack dab in the middle of Brown bear country. This trail runs through parts of our town, at one point starting at the high school parking lot, and running behind an elementary school.

Like I said before, experience and history have dictated this policy. The bear was killed by a local police officer and a Alaska State Trooper, anyone waiting for repercussions will be sorely disappointed.

This community is used to having bears around. The paper publish's the local police blotter daily, and this time of year there are reports of bears listed weekly, sometimes daily. It's usually no big deal. This case was different, and those that live here understand that point.

Gentlemen -- I did something yesterday on this Forum I had never done before, I refered to a poster as an "Idiot". I am not appologizing for that today, but I will offer an explanation. I hunted Brown Bear in Alaska, had a successful hunt with a close friend as the guide. My brother-in-law lived and tought school there, in Bear country for two years. I came to know those people and their inate fear of the big Bears. All the people in the village I hunted out of were not hunters, only three people at that time who were guides or hunters would venture out of town to hunt. The common people thought that the hunters and those that came to town to hunt were rather stupid for risking their lives on a hunt. I lost a buddy up there that was a hunter, and I don't bemoan that fact, he hunted and killed, and became a victom of the prey. He shot a Bear and killed it but because his 30-06 didn't put the Bear down immediately, it killed him while it was dieing. In the hunting game that sometimes happens, so be it. However in that same village a few years ago, a mother with a babe in arms with a toddler in tow, was chased down the middle of main street on a cold winter night, by a hungrey Brown Bear. The mother in her flight, somehow lost her grip on the toddler, who was killed and partially eaten by the Bear. That doesn't have to be repeated. When the posters here started calling the locals up there idiots for eliminating a Bear, I couldn't help myself. Those people live there and have for thousands of years, with a fear of the Bears, let them handle the Bears, as they need to, without the aid of someone who cannot understand their viewpoint. Maybe I am saying, stand in their shoes before you judge Good shooting.

Well,

Since it wasn't about a dog, but the threat to humans, your wrong.

Alot of you guys are still missing the point.

The bear WASN'T killed because it ate a dog.

It had decided that dogs are a legitimate food source, and dogs are usually associated with humans.

It was spending too much time too close to an area that humans use on a regular basis.

It was killed because it presented a danger to humans.

That's why the eagle was left alone. There was little chance it would become a danger to humans, unlike the bear.