A warning sign posted off Glacier Spur Road where two state trooper vehicles were also parked. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

A warning sign posted off Glacier Spur Road where two state trooper vehicles were also parked. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Bear attacks dogwalker near Dredge Lakes

A man and his dog were attacked by a sow black bear defending its cubs early Friday morning, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game told the Empire on Friday afternoon.

Walking about 50 feet ahead of its owner on the Moraine Ecology Trail near the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, the dog encountered a sow black bear with at least one cub, according to ADF&G biologist Tom Schumacher

The bear was chasing the unidentified man’s Rottweiler out of some brush when the bear approached the man. The incident was reported at 9:40 a.m., though it took place at 4:30 a.m. Friday.

The bear chased the dog back to its owner, who waved his arms and decided to sit down on the narrow trail instead of being knocked down by the bear. The bear climbed on top of the man, but it didn’t bite or scratch him.

The dog, bear and man were not hurt, Schumacher said.

“He kicked at the bear, and the dog had come back and was barking and biting at the back end of the bear,” Schumacher said. After a short struggle, the bear then left the scene with at least one cub.

Schumacher characterized the attack as a defensive action by the bear, unlike recent fatal attacks by black bear near Anchorage.

“Unlike the situations up north, where black bears made predatory attacks on people, this appears to be a defensive situation where the bear thought the dog was threatening its cub, and the bear encountered the man who it also assumed was a threat,” Schumacher said. “Still, we don’t like it when bears behave this way toward people.”

USFS ranger John Neary said he does not believe the attacking bear was one of the bears that is normally seen near the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.

All trails are closed in the Dredge Lakes area for the time being as ADF&G investigates. The USFS said they’re unsure when they will reopen the trails, but they’ll be closed at least until Saturday. Both the USFS and ADF&G swept the area for the bear Friday morning, but couldn’t locate the bear.

The man didn’t see any identifying characteristics like an ear tag, Schumacher said. The man described the bear as being about three times the size of his Rottweiler.

If they could identify the bear, Fish & Game would consider killing the bear if they determined it to be a continued threat to humans. There are at least four sows with cubs in the area, Schumacher said, and without any identifying characteristics, it will be hard to locate the bear.

Recent mild winters have been good to bears, allowing sows to reproduce in larger numbers than normal, Fish & Game said in a June press release.

“Generally bears that behave aggressively toward people are killed,” Schumacher said. “We don’t want to put a bear that’s a problem in one area, put it somewhere else and have it cause a problem.”

Bears in the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area are “highly prized for viewing” Schumacher said, and Fish & Game has a “big hurdle” in identifying the bear. He suspects it’s unlikely they will be able to properly identify and locate the aggressive bear.

“If we can’t do that, there’s no need to make a decision,” on whether to kill the bear, Schumacher said.

This is the first time in about a decade that Fish & Game has received a report of a bear making contact with a human, ADF&G’s Ryan Scott said.

“It’s extremely rare. We’ve had to go back in our records and pinpoint the last time we were aware of something like this happening,” Scott said. “But as some who has been a wildlife manager for the last 12 years, it has been at least seven or eight years making contact with a person locally.”

In that case, Scott said, a man was feeding bears out of his hand. When the man ran out of food, the bear swatted his hand. Fish & Game didn’t learn about this incident until months after it happened.

Neary said the USFS cautions people all the time to use leashes when walking on Forest Service trails, as going without one can significantly increase the risk of provoking a bear.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that the man had been knocked over by the bear. He had actually sat down before the bear climbed on top of him.


• Contact reporter Kevin Gullufsen at 523-2228 or kevin.gullufsen@juneauempire.com


More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast for the week of March 25

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Tuesday, March 26, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

The aging Tustumena ferry, long designated for replacement, arrives in Homer after spending the day in Seldovia in this 2010 photo. (Homer News file photo)
Feds OK most of state’s revised transportation plan, but ferry and other projects again rejected

Governor’s use of ferry revenue instead of state funds to match federal grants a sticking point.

The Shopper’s Lot is among two of downtown Juneau’s three per-hour parking lots where the cash payments boxes are missing due to vandalism this winter. But as of Wednesday people can use the free ParkSmarter app to make payments by phone. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Pay-by-phone parking for downtown Juneau debuts with few reported complaints

App for hourly lots part of series of technology upgrades coming to city’s parking facilities.

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulġuna T’aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. The two, who work together at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group’s Language Access program, hope to compile an Indigenous environmental glossary. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Project seeks to gather Alaska environmental knowledge embedded in Indigenous languages

In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, the word… Continue reading

The room where the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee holds its meeting sits empty on Tuesday. A presentation about an increase in the number of inmate deaths in state custody was abruptly canceled here. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Republican lawmakers shut down legislative hearing about deaths in Alaska prisons

Former commissioner: “All this will do, is it will continue to inflame passions of advocacy groups.”

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, March 25, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Employees at the Kensington Mine removing tailings from Johnson Creek on Feb. 17 following a Jan. 31 spill of about 105,000 gallons of slurry from the mine, although a report by the mine’s owners states about half slurry reached the creek 430 meters away. (Photo from report by Coeur Alaska)
Emergency fisheries assessments sought after 105,000-gallon tailings spill at Kensington Mine

Company says Jan. 31 spill poses no risk to Berners Bay habitat, but NOAA seeks federal evaluation.

Most Read