Driver hits grizzly crossing Anchorage street
By Mary Pemberton

Associated Press Writer / August 23, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska—One moment Howard Hawkins Jr. was driving to get an early morning cup of coffee and the next he hit a large grizzly bear running at a full gallop across one of Anchorage's busiest streets.

"It is just unreal," Hawkins said Friday, less than 12 hours after his 2002 Land Rover struck the bear. "I didn't have time to react. I wasn't even able to hit my brakes or anything. What stopped the forward motion of the car is that I ran into a big bear."

Hawkins, 57, plowed into the bear shortly before 4 a.m. in what is the latest in a summer of close encounters between human and bruin in Alaska's largest city.

The male bear came out of the woods from one of Anchorage's many greenbelts. It was struck on a four-lane highway near a large car dealership and RV campground. The collision pushed in the front end of Hawkins' Land Rover. The vehicle's air bags deployed but Hawkins was uninjured.

He called 911 and got out of his car to await police. The bear, angry and in a lot of pain with a broken leg, was behind the Land Rover stumbling around, roaring and growling.

Officers arrived within minutes and advised Hawkins to get back in his vehicle; he did.

At one point, the bear charged the officers, police spokesman Paul Honeman said.

The grizzly made its way off the road and back into the woods, where officers found it and killed it.

The bear was a 15-year-old grizzly that was part of a state Fish and Game research study to determine how many bears there are in Anchorage.

The bear was trapped in 2006 and fitted with a global positioning collar that showed it stayed mostly in one of two areas, including Far North Bicentennial Park where there have been two bear maulings and several encounters with grizzlies this summer.

One of the bears, a sow with two cubs that was believed to be responsible for much of the trouble, was shot and killed Tuesday. DNA showed that bear was not the one responsible for the most serious attack, on a 15-year-old bicyclist.

The grizzlies come into Anchorage in the summer to feed on salmon and moose, said Sean Farley, a Fish and Game research biologist who conducted the study that showed residents share the city with at least 20 grizzlies.

So far this summer, 18 black bears and one grizzly have been shot in the municipality in defense of life or property. That's a higher number than normal, said Jessy Coltrane, an assistant area wildlife biologist. Last year, that total was about 10 black bears and one grizzly, she said.

Coltrane attributes the higher number this summer to a "social reaction" among city residents. When there are maulings, people are less tolerant, she said.

© Copyright 2008 Associated Press.

Those Alaskans are tough .They have to be even to get a cup of coffee !!

I'd rather hit a bear than a moose...less chance of coming through the windshield. I have an ARB front bumper for these kinds of possibilities though.

tsturm, I think I saw the moosekill (from cars) count up to 150 on the Kenai when I was over a few weeks ago...

Too many bears in Alaska right now and F&G ain't doing enough.

It's at the point now where I know a few old timers who are taking care of the bears their own way....

I worked the State Fair this weekend with Lee Rogers from F&G. He's the guy that delivered the bear to the taxidermist. He said the bear weighed 733 lbs. and had bite marks all over his head. Apparently the entire bear's head had been INSIDE a bigger bear's mouth. They think there is a
1000 + pound bear somewhere in Anchorage that they don't know anything about.

I had the Chugach Park brown bear tag this spring, I tried like hell to find one of these big bears but they eluded me. I did see some big bears while flying/scouting the area but nothing of that size.

I was talking with Lee about the fact that none of the Park tags were filled. F&G was surprised at that result.

We just voted today on aerial gunning of grizzly.

There were only 3 tags issued out and I know of 1 other hunter that actually went out and tried to harvest a bear. I spent considerable time and money scouting the entire area. Late snow melt didn't help the situation either as we didn't start seeing bears until the first of May. F&G needs to issue out a few more tags for this hunt and extend it if they want some bears taken out of the park. Aerial gnnung of grizzlies?? I'm all for predator control but not for aerial gunning of bears, chances of wounding one and losing it are much greater than shooting wolves from the air.

more tags issued? Heck yes!
Aerial shooting grizzlies? %$^# NO!!!
That is the worst idea that I have ever heard.

The proposition was to allow F&G officials to do controlled shoots from the air in certain circumstances.

Actually, I thought the proposition was to restrict aerial predator shooting to ONLY F&G officials, rather than any yahoo who gets a permit (and I know several).

Moot point though.

Bob