Living in Harmony with Wildlife
Anchorage is unique among urban cities given the variety of wildlife that can be seen in our community. Our parks and recreation areas and the 400,000 acre Chugach State Park that borders our community help provide habitat, which supports urban wildlife populations.
Brown and black bears can be found in Chugach State Park and in some of the more urban parts of our community. While bears have been seen throughout the city, most sightings occur in Bicentennial and Kincaid Parks, the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, and the Anchorage Hillside.
Fortunately, bears, moose and other wildlife do their best to avoid people. However, we all need to do our part to prevent negative encounters with wildlife
Consider the following guidelines to avoid negative encounters with a bear:
- When fishing and recreating along local the creeks and trails in our community:
- Store trash in a bear-resistant container. Ask your trash collection company if they can provide you with a bear-resistant container.
- Companies, such as Unitech of Alaska, also offer a bear-resistant storage container that is recommended by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game. Note: The Unitech container (or similar container offered by another company) is too large to put on the curb on your trash pick-up day. This container is used to better store your trash during the week, especially if don’t have a garage or options to store your trash inside. Bags stored in this container are removed on the morning of trash pick-up, placed in a standard trash container and put on the curb for collection by your trash hauler. This requires a little extra effort on your part, but it helps keep bears out of our garbage.
- Travel in a group and make noise, so as not to surprise a bear.
- If you see a bear – stay calm. Never run away. If the bear does not see you – quietly leave the area from the same direction you arrived. If the bear does see you – face the bear, stand close together to appear larger, and talk calmly to the bear. If the bear is not moving towards you, very cautiously move away.
- If a bear approaches you while you have a fish on the line, give it slack or cut the line to eliminate splashing. Splashing attracts bears.
- When you catch a fish, store it on ice in a bear-resistant container. If you must clean it in the field, avoid leaving fish guts along the stream banks. Cut fish waste up into small pieces and deposit in a fast moving stretch of the creek.
- Adhere to the “leave no trace” philosophy. Pack out all your garbage, waste fishing line and tackle.
Manage your household trash properly. A fed bear is a dead bear.
Bears sometimes show up in our neighborhoods, especially black bears that have become accustomed to feeding on garbage.
We need to avoid having bears associate humans and our neighborhoods with food. We can help prevent this from happening by doing a few simple things with our household trash:
- Store trash in a bear-resistant container. Ask your trash collection company if they can provide you with a bear-resistant container. Unitech of Alaska also offers a bear-resistant container that is recommended by the Alaska Department of Fish & Game.
Bears feeding on garbage tend to do so at night or early morning when there are less cars and people on the roads. Put trash on the curb only on the day of pick up and not the night before. The municipal trash ordinance prohibits placing garbage cans on the curb before the day of pickup. - State law also requires that we properly manage our trash. If a bear or other wildlife species, such as moose, are attracted to unsecured trash , you can be fined $110. It is cheaper to buy a bear-resistant container and obey the law. Obeying the law will keep our neighborhoods safe!
- Work with your neighbors to keep your neighborhood litter-free.
What about Moose?
Moose should also not be taken for granted. You are much more likely to see a moose than a bear, on our trails in Anchorage.
If you see a moose – stay calm and give it a wide berth when passing. If the moose is standing in the trail, stop and wait for it to leave or you leave in the same direction that you arrived. Do not harass the moose as they can become aggressive when threatened. In the spring, cow moose with newborn calves are especially protective of their young, and can be dangerous.
Living in Harmony with Wildlife
One of Anchorage’s special attributes is that we are an urban city surrounded by wilderness. We have urban life and we have wildlife.
Residents and visitors alike can experience a natural part of Alaska without having to travel far beyond the borders of our Municipality.
By continuing to work together, we can live in harmony with our wildlife and truly be a model for how to develop responsibly while sustaining our natural assets – assets that contribute to our economy and our quality of life.