Anchorage Daily News

A black bear raiding garbage at a home in South Anchorage on Halloween night as kids were going door-to-door trick-or-treating was shot and killed out of concern for the kids' safety, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Officials said trick-or-treaters were never in immediate danger, though the animal, which was drawn to a pile of garbage on the porch and driveway of a home in the 4800 block of Zenith Street, refused to leave when police and wildlife officials tried to chase it away into nearby Hillside Park.

Anchorage-area wildlife biologist Rick Sinnott, who arrived on scene at about 7:15 p.m. to find a police officer monitoring the bear, dispatched the animal with a shotgun in the backyard.

"He wasn't going to go away," Sinnott said. "We were afraid that if we really chased him hard and lost him, then all these kids out here trick-or-treating would be in danger. I think the risk was enormous. Who wants to have a black bear running around the street Halloween night with scores of kids walking around within a block or so?"

The Halloween night scare left at least one homeowner on Zenith, which is near Service High School and within yards of the heavily wooded park, wondering where all the trick or treaters went.

"We haven't had one all night," said John Hillebrand, who said Halloween usually draws a healthy crowd. Hillebrand said police and wildlife officials were in the neighborhood, "shoo-ing people off the street."

Hillebrand said the bear, which weighed an estimated 200 pounds, was gunned down in the back yard of a neighbor's house. "Then they dragged it out and threw it in the back of a truck," he said.

The carcass remained in the back of Sinnott's truck some time later, a bit of blood dripping out its mouth. Sinnott planned to butcher the animal, donate its meat to charity and auction its hide off at Fur Rendezvous.

Though some bears are beginning to den up for the winter, Sinnott said, others, like this young male - a likely repeat garbage offender - are still roaming in search of a good meal.

The pickings were not scarce at the home. On a porch, a gnawed up industrial-sized can of frozen nacho cheese laid open and clawed up. At the head of the driveway, a handful of garbage cans were tossed over and scattered, the bags formerly inside torn up and their contents scattered by the animal.

"Pure negligence," Sinnott said, shaking his head as he examined the scene.

The biologist remained in the driveway, waiting for the residents to return. He planned to ticket them for allowing the bear to get in their garbage, a citation with a price tag of $310.

Find James Halpin online at adn.com/contact/jhalpin or call him at 257-4589.

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