Early Tuesday morning, a car hit a bear on Dillingham's Waskey Road near the landfill.
Animal Control officer Dan Boyd and ADF&G area biologist Neil Barton responded to the call. Boyd said they found the juvenile brown bear lying dead just off the side of the road, which Barton determined had been a two-year-old sow.
“We really couldn’t see much damage to the bear at all, other than that it was definitely deceased and had some blood coming out of its mouth,” said Boyd.
The car – a brand new SUV – had a damaged front light. No people were injured in the collision. According to Boyd, vehicle collisions with bears around Dillingham are rare, but he warns that people should remain cautious.
“You’re driving around at night, and there’s not much time to react with the brush that we have on both sides of the road," he said. "Depending on what the bear is doing – just walking or maybe even could be running out – I think your reaction time is going to be very short.”
Boyd said that there have been fewer bear calls than the past two years, but that might change as the season progresses.
Contact the author at isabelle@kdlg.org or 907-842-5281.
