94 brown bears eliminated in government predator control measure

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Bears are on the minds of environmental and wildlife biologists after 94 brown bears were killed north of Dillingham between May 10 and June 4.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish, the predator control efforts were part of an Intensive Management Program to increase the Mulchatna caribou herd, which declined 96% since 1997. Five black bears and five wolves were also removed using aerial methods across the same dates. A total of 200,000 caribou in the Mulchatna herd in 1997 cratered to about 12,000 in 2017, which is where the population remains.

It could be one of the largest government-backed killings of brown bears in the nation’s history, said Rick Steiner, a retired professor and environmental scientist. While Steiner is overwhelmingly against the recent bear kill, he said it will at least provide an opportunity to possibly study the effects of the removal.

“Lay out a monitoring plan to see what happens, how the Mulchatna herd responds or not, what other predators come into the system, whether this actually causes some benefit, how long that lasts,” Steiner said. “It’s probably a five or 10-year study that needs to be done now.”

The ADF&G official identified as the person who can elaborate on the bear kill was not immediately available. An ADF&G press release on the kill was issued on June 6.

“The department does not have population concerns for these removals of bears and wolves,” ADF&G wrote in the press release. “Bear and wolf populations are healthy in western Alaska. The removals of wolves and bears in the western spring calving control area are occurring in a relatively small area that is surrounded by healthy, intact habitat in State and Federal lands where control activities are not occurring.”

Steiner disagrees and said wolf control efforts in the area for 12 years haven’t helped.

“I have a feeling, a strong feeling, that this has really strongly destabilized that ecosystem out there and we’re going to see some instability from this for years to come,” Steiner said. “It probably will not work in recovering the Mulchatna herd which has declined for many other reasons: climate change, habitat decline, overgrazing, disease, there’s a brucellosis problem there, as well as over-hunting both legal and illegal. The first thing the department should have done is try to get a handle on the illegal take of caribou.”

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