Anchorage river otters are fun to watch, but keep your dog away
Belly-sliding otters may be cute, but they’re also voracious predators with sharp teeth.
Wildlife
A lynx, a toddler and a bizarre encounter in an Anchorage Hillside driveway
A wildlife biologist believes a lynx that recently approached a young girl may have been a juvenile. The girl’s father said he’s now on higher alert after the encounter.
Judge throws roadblock into Hilcorp oil exploration in Cook Inlet, citing potential impacts to beluga whales
Conservation groups sued the federal government in 2019 to stop the project.
Anchorage Costco customers say ravens are stealing their groceries in the parking lot
Steaks, spare ribs and melons are among the food items that have been targeted by ravens outside the Dimond Costco.
Last-minute Trump administration order targets Alaska polar bear guides
Some Kaktovik residents have expressed concern about tourism impacts to their community, but a polar bear guide asserted the order is based on “false information.”
Porcupines will populate Alaska roadsides soon. You can eat them, but don’t take them to the bar.
Their quills give them a bad rap, but porcupines are generally friendly and interesting to watch. Just make sure you watch your dog too.
Spot a moose? Call it in: Help sought for annual survey of Anchorage’s urban moose
The multiday effort to record moose sightings and collect DNA samples is aimed at getting a more accurate count of moose living in and around the city.
A woman was bitten while using an outhouse near Haines. It turned out to be a bear.
“I shined the headlamp and opened the lid, and right there at the level of the toilet seat was a cinnamon-colored bear face, big enough to fill the hole.”
Report: Bear injured woman’s backside while she was using an outhouse near Haines
After the woman screamed, her brother came running, lifted the lid and saw “a gigantic bear face looking right back up at me,” he told public radio station KHNS.
Despite changing and uncertain habitat, Alaska’s bowhead whales appear to be on the rebound
Bowhead numbers in northern Alaska were up in 2020, but there is still plenty of unpredictability facing the species.
Still need to get rid of your Christmas tree? Arnold the moose and Maya the musk ox will take it.
Discarded evergreen trees provide entertainment, novelty and sometimes a snack for moose, wolves, musk ox and other animals at Anchorage’s zoo and the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.
68 wolves taken by trappers on Prince of Wales Island as conservationists object
Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials had ruled that trapping could be safely allowed and would not pose a danger to the overall wolf population.
Formerly endangered gray whale population along West Coast plunges
The gray whale population has plunged by about a quarter along the West Coast since 2016, according to estimates released Tuesday.
Sightings of lynx, generally stealthy and shrouded, are more common this winter in Alaska’s Interior
Interactions with “nuisance lynx” are leading to speculation that their main food source, snowshoe hares, may be in a down cycle.
Federal wildlife officers investigate shooting of Alaska bald eagle near Juneau
The bird’s pelvis was shattered and there was mounting lead poisoning from a type of shotgun ammunition that is illegal in Alaska, and it had to be euthanized.
Where do black-capped chickadees go to survive Alaska’s frigid winter nights?
The tiny birds gorge themselves during the day, find a tiny roost in a tree and shiver their way through the night.
Meet the northern shrike, a rare carnivorous songbird
They are predatory butcher birds that will dine on everything from insects to small mammals and even other songbirds.
Tenakee Springs residents team up to free whale tangled in fishing gear
Residents were alerted to the humpback whale’s plight after they heard its sounds of distress.
Feds reject Alaska’s petition to delist Arctic ringed seals as threatened
The decision was based on “threats associated with ongoing and projected changes in sea ice and on-ice snow depths stemming from climate change within the foreseeable future.”
Jetliner hits bear on runway in Southeast Alaska
A brown bear was struck by an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Saturday evening as the plane was on the runway after landing in Yakutat. The bear was killed, but no one on the plane was injured.