FIFTH OPENING – The Sitka seine boats Hukilau and Rose Lee pump herring aboard this afternoon at the end of Deep Inlet during the fifth opening in the Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery. The opening was being held in two locations beginning at 11 a.m. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson) 

New RFP Sought For Managing PAC
27 Mar 2024 14:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The future of management and operations at the Perform [ ... ]

Seiners Get Second Day with 2 Areas to Fish
27 Mar 2024 14:46

By Sentinel Staff
    The Sitka Sound commercial herring sac roe fishery continued today with open [ ... ]

Braves Take Second in Last Minute Upset
27 Mar 2024 12:41

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    After storming into the state 3A boys basketball brac [ ... ]

Tuesday City League Volleyball
27 Mar 2024 12:39

By Sentinel Staff
    The Queen Bees’ spotless season record ended Tuesday night with a 2-1 loss [ ... ]

Kodiak Alutiiq Museum Getting New Attention
27 Mar 2024 12:37

By SHIRLEY SNEVE
Indian Country Today
    A major renovation at an Alaska museum to attract tourist [ ... ]

House Hearing on Inmate Deaths Halted
27 Mar 2024 12:35

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    A presentation about a jump in the number of inmate deaths in  [ ... ]

Nominee to Bering Sea Council: Not a Trawler
27 Mar 2024 12:34

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Tribal and environmental advocates calling for a crackdown o [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Police Blotter
27 Mar 2024 12:26

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 26
At 2:10 p.m. a man e [ ... ]

March 27, 2024, Community Happenings
27 Mar 2024 12:25

Big Rigs Sought
For April 13
The 3 to 5 Preschool’s spring fundraiser and Big Rig event is happening [ ... ]

Reassessments Raise Tax Bills for Sitkans
26 Mar 2024 15:22

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The city’s reassessment of taxable real estate, alo [ ... ]

Two Areas Opened in Herring Fishery Today
26 Mar 2024 15:21

By Sentinel Staff
The third opening in this year’s Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery was held Mon [ ... ]

Lady Wolves Rally to Take Fourth at State
26 Mar 2024 15:16

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
    Sitka High’s Lady Wolves bounced back from an openi [ ... ]

Edgecumbe Girls Close Out Season Up North
26 Mar 2024 14:58

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel ports Editor
    Competing in the state 3A basketball tournament in Anc [ ... ]

City League Monday
26 Mar 2024 14:55

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing in a competitive division City League volleyball game Monday evening [ ... ]

House Votes to Broaden Rules For Review Panel Memb...
26 Mar 2024 14:52

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A bill that passed the Alaska House of Representatives on Monday  [ ... ]

Alaskan Grilled in D.C. Over Climate Science
26 Mar 2024 14:51

By NATHANIEL HERZ
Northern Journal
    Gus Schumacher, the Anchorage Olympic cross-country skier, a [ ... ]

Faster Internet Speeds In Rural Schools OK'd
26 Mar 2024 13:53

By CLAIRE STREMPLE
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s rural schools are on track to access faster interne [ ... ]

Native Words Gathered In Environment Studies
26 Mar 2024 13:52

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
    In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska,  [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Police Blotter
26 Mar 2024 13:49

Police Blotter
Sitka police received the following calls by 8 a.m. today:
March 25
At 7:48 a.m. a calle [ ... ]

March 26, 2024, Community Happenings
26 Mar 2024 13:48

Vietnam-Era Vets
Invited to Lunch,
Commemoration
American Legion Post 13 will host a luncheon 1-3 p.m.  [ ... ]

Sac Roe Herring Fishery Opens in Hayward
25 Mar 2024 15:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The 2024 Sitka Sound sac roe herring fishery got under [ ... ]

Projects on the Table For Cruise Tax Funds
25 Mar 2024 15:28

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly will start the annual process of determi [ ... ]

Braves Take Second at State after Close Loss
25 Mar 2024 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the 3A state championship title basketball game Saturday, the M [ ... ]

City League Games Continue
25 Mar 2024 15:11

By Sentinel Staff
    Playing through the afternoon Sunday, City League volleyball teams faced off [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Trooper Kills Charging Bear at Starrigavan

By Sentinel Staff

A young bear that has been roaming the Starrigavan River estuary and campground in recent days was shot and killed Sunday afternoon when it charged an Alaska Wildlife Trooper, Fish and Game said today.

The trooper, along with a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer and a Fish and Game department biologist, had gone to the area in response to a call that the bear was on the boardwalk. Authorities had hoped to haze it back into the woods, officials said.

F&G Wildlife Biologist Phil Mooney said that in the last three days the bear had grown “more visibly irritated at people encroaching on its space while they tried to get photos of the bear.”

He said the bear recently found a bucket of discarded fast food wrappers and empty coffee, milkshake and sports drink containers, and refused to back away from campers and hikers in area, Mooney said.

Hundreds of people had gone out to see the bear in recent weeks, Mooney said.

“Unfortunately,” he said, “a number of people chose to get very close to the bear while it fed on grass, even after it ‘huffed’ at them – a warning (bears make) to make people back away.” 

Police got a call Friday evening from someone worried that people trying to take pictures were getting too close to the bear.

The yearling female bear appeared in the estuary earlier this month. Mooney said he had wondered where the mother was, since the sow usually isn’t far away from yearlings like this one.

“The Forest Service campground host repeatedly asked people to let the bear feed undisturbed and not use the boardwalk to get closer to it,” Mooney said. Sitka police officers also issued a statement urging people “to give the bear space.”

“Unfortunately, the outcome for young bears and females with cubs ending up in the estuary has been very dismal over the years,” Mooney said. “While the Starrigavan estuary and adjacent campground is a favorite local camping and picnicking spot, bears do not survive long in this area ... the bears are just too visible, easily approached by people from different directions, and the bears’ escape routes are limited.”

Mooney said records of bears captured and radio-collared at Starrigavan show that none has survived the season. This bear was too small to collar and there was no place to move it to, he said.

“It simply doesn’t have a different area to go to on its own where it will survive,” said Mooney.

When the 150-pound bear charged and came within 10 feet of the trooper Sunday, the trooper had no other option than to shoot it, Mooney said.

“Without taking that shot, the bear would have made physical contact with the trooper and things would have gone from bad to ugly,” he said.  “We were just minutes away from having hazing equipment on hand to discourage the bear from approaching people, when the bear suddenly charged.” 

While the outcome was not what he or the officers had anticipated, Mooney said he is glad no on was hurt. Mooney recommended if another bear viewing opportunity arises at Starrigavan: “View bears from a safe distance and do not interrupt their feeding behavior or movements.”

 

Comments  

 
+1 # tree 2015-05-18 19:01
Just leave the bears alone, damn it, and they won't have to die for a stupid photograph. Geeze....
 

You have no rights to post comments

Login Form

 

20 YEARS AGO

March 2004

Matthew C. Hunter of Sitka recently returned from Cuba as part of a St. Olaf College International and Off-Campus Studies program. Hunter, a junior physics major at St. Olaf College, is the son of Robert and Kim Hunter of Sitka.


50 YEARS AGO

March 1974

Eighth graders have returned from a visit to Juneau to see the Legislature. They had worked for it since Christmas vacation ... Clarice Johnson’s idea of a “White Elephant” sales was chosen as the best money-maker; Joe Roth won the political cartoon assignment; highest government test scorers were Ken Armstrong, Joanna Hearn, Linda Montgomery, Lisa Henry, Calvin Taylor and David Licari .....

Calendar

Local Events

Instagram

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Instagram!

Facebook

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Facebook!