News that 20 or more bears have been killed in Anchorage this year, mostly because they’ve gotten into the habit of eating human trash, is both disheartening and infuriating.
People who live in the municipality, like elsewhere in Alaska, have long known what steps to take to minimize bear-human conflicts. At the top of the list: keeping garbage away from bears.
Making matters worse is the fact that local businesses that provide bear-resistant trash “carts” and dumpsters to their customers are part of the problem. A recent news story published by the Anchorage Daily News, indicates that two companies that provide the bear-resistant containers ran out of them…