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Wounded Bear Still Loose on Hillside
Brown bear shot after getting into a resident's chicken coop
By Lauren Maxwell
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ANCHORAGE - A wounded brown bear is on the loose tonight in a Hillside neighborhood, and that is making for some uneasy neighbors.
The bear was shot early Wednesday morning by a homeowner on Beverly Drive, not far from Birch Road and Huffman, after it was caught getting into a chicken coop.
The bear left a trail of blood but biologists don’t think the wounds were fatal. Despite an all day search they couldn’t find it. Fish and Game says it’s been getting reports for the last two weeks that the bear has been breaking into sheds, garages and other buildings.
“It’s been pushing in garage doors its pushed in a couple of man doors into houses that weren’t bolt locked and it's pushed into a shed and got a whole caribou” says Fish and Game biologist Jessy Coltrane.
Coltrane says she doesn’t think the bear’s wounds are fatal. She says the bear appears to be extremely skittish around people, still, says Coltrane, there is reason for concern.
“The biggest concern with this one is because it is breaking into buildings its coming around buildings and checking out houses. So your chances of coming around the corner and surprising it are higher than a bear that wouldn’t be coming up to your house.”
Coltrane says the bear has a wide range on the Hillside, he’s been spotted from Abbott Road to Upper DeArmoun and Rabbit Creek. They plan to go out again on Wednesday evening to try and find the bear and will shoot it if they do.
