Second Belligerent Bear Killed

Posted on: August 26, 2009 | musiclover | Comments Off | Print Article | Rate Post:

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By Heidi Zemach, for the Seward City News

Seward police killed another aggressive bear recently that showed no apparent fear of humans. The black bear, estimated by the police as 2-3-years old and weighing around 200 pounds, had jumped on three separate occupied tents at the Forest Acres Campground August 15th, ripping them, and even swatting the head of a woman who had been sleeping in one, said Seward Police Lieutenant Louis “Butch” Tiner. The campground appeared to be filled to capacity with campers that busy Silver Salmon Derby weekend. Tiner and Officer Ken Brockman responded to the 911 call for help at 7:00 a.m. that Saturday morning.

Three men at the campground were trying to chase the bear off by yelling, sounding air-horns, and trying to shoo it away from the grounds. But even after Tiner and Brockman arrived on the scene, and joined in the shouting, the bear continued to pace back and forth and weave in and out of the north end of the campground. Then, the bear turned and headed straight back toward the center of the campground. By this time, the other campers had been moved by police out of harms way, Tiner said. That’s when they “dispatched” him.

“When we didn’t deter him and the air horns didn’t deter him, I didn’t think anything would,” Tiner said. “When he turned back into the campground, there was no choice.”

The police department has located a charity, and turned over the carcass for the meat and fur to be salvaged.
The police had expected to find evidence of food such as fish in, or around the tents that the bear had targeted, but found none. The only attractant campers mentioned had been a greasy spatula and piece of tin foil that campers had spotted the bear licking, while standing on a picnic table. They were all that remained outside from a barbecue the previous evening, the campers said. This is a prime example of why people should put away every single thing that a bear can smell or want, Tiner said.

The woman who the bear swatted probably did not go to the hospital later to check out her injuries, but she told the police afterwards that her head was “still ringing,” he said. It was a scary way for everyone to wake up, Tiner added.
City police have been called to respond to bears in Seward many times this summer, but the August 15 incident was only the second time that they had to actually kill the bear. Another young black bear was dispatched in July after it climbed twice into a home on Dora Way in broad daylight and finally trapped itself inside with a Jack Russell Terrier. Although police scared it out of the house and into the woods, the bear returned to the busy area unafraid, while the police and neighbors were still there.

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