Anchorage Daily News

Anchorage has struggled with its relationship with bears for decades.

The mauling of a young bicycle racer last weekend in Far North Bicentennial Park raised questions anew:

Are there too many bears in the woods for a growing city to cope with? Should we hunt some of them down? How can we be safer?

After the fact, it's clear that holding an all-night bike race in a wilderness park near a salmon stream in brown bear country was a bad idea.

People riding bikes, who travel fast and concentrate on the ground right in front of them, are more likely to surprise and be surprised by a bear than other human park users, says state biologist Rick Sinnott.

And brown bears, when surprised, often attack.

We as a city, and as individuals, need to take more care. We should be aware of the risks. We should make noise, bring pepper spray, travel in groups.

Maybe we shouldn't bike near salmon streams in Bicentennial or other wild parks on the east edge of the city during times when bears will especially be concentrating there.

We definitely shouldn't schedule bike races at such times.

But we should not shoot bears that roam through Bicentennial, or the Rabbit Creek greenbelt, or Eagle River.

There will always be an element of danger in wilderness parks from both moose and bears.

But brown bears generally become aware of people and move off before the people even know the bear is around, said Sinnott.

Black bears run away most of the time even if they've gotten close enough for a human to view them. Brown bears are the greater danger.

There's no evidence the number of bears is increasing, said Sinnott. The number of people in Anchorage is increasing, though -- by 24,000 over 10 years.

With more people using the park, the city and state should make sure people know how to keep risks to a minimum.

And the city shouldn't sanction events in Bicentennial that would be safer in a more citified park.

Obviously, if an attack occurs or people see bears in an area, wildlife managers should post extra signs, as they did the past week.

Once the warnings are up, the advice made clear, it's up to each person to decide how much risk to take.

Healthy fear of brown bears hasn't changed the attitude of most people in Anchorage that wildlife in the city is part of what we like about the city. We're not about to draw a line around the Anchorage Bowl and declare a no-bear zone. So we need to arm ourselves with knowledge and sense to minimize the dangers of living in bear country.

BOTTOM LINE: Wildlife managers should make sure everyone knows the risks -- and how best to protect themselves. Beyond that, it's up to us.

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