A brown bear fishes for salmon in Pick Creek near Lake Nerka in Wood-Tikchik State Park on Thursday, July 21, 2022. (Loren Holmes / ADN) The Alaska Wildlife Alliance recently filed for an injunction at the Alaska Superior Court in Anchorage to halt the killing of brown and black bears on the calving grounds of the Mulchatna caribou herd by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG). The proposed injunction is necessary and warranted.
An unlimited number of bears are being killed from helicopters with shotguns as you read this. If granted, the injunction would immediately halt the monthlong bear culling operation that began on May 8. This Intensive Management program resulted in the slaughtering of 99 bears a year ago, including sows and 20 cubs.
The bear reduction program, adopted in 2022 without a public hearing or opportunity to comment, is still in effect. Shockingly, any bear spotted on the calving grounds of the Mulchatna herd is being gunned down, including bears in Wood-Tikchik State Park. So much for parks.
Many Alaskans have voiced strong opposition to this horrific shooting of bears, including respected retired wildlife biologists who once worked for ADFG: John Schoen, Matt Kirchhoff and Bryan Reiley, the area biologist once responsible for the Mulchatna herd. Last year’s cost of the bear killing spree was nearly $500,000. This must stop.
The bear reduction program is part of an effort to boost the dwindling Mulchatna Caribou Herd that has been suffering from a.