Coffee Seeking Driver Hits Grizzly Bear in Alaskan Street

Coffee-Seeking Driver Hits Grizzly Bear in Alaskan Street

Saturday, August 23, 2008

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — One moment Howard Hawkins Jr. was driving to get an early morning cup of coffee and the next he hit a large grizzly bear running at a full gallop across one of Anchorage's busiest streets.

[…]

The bear was No. 211, a 15-year-old grizzly that was part of a state Fish and Game research study to determine how many bears there are in Anchorage.

The bear was trapped in 2006 and fitted with a global positioning collar that showed it stayed mostly in one of two areas, including Far North Bicentennial Park where there have been two bear maulings and several encounters with grizzlies this summer.

[…]

While the city's black bears get more attention because they get into garbage, the grizzlies largely go unnoticed. People using the city's extensive trail system could be 50 yards from a grizzly and never know it, Farley said.

So far this summer, 18 black bears and one grizzly have been shot in the municipality in defense of life or property. That's a higher number than normal, said Jessy Coltrane, an assistant area wildlife biologist. Last year, that total was about 10 black bears and one grizzly, she said.

[…]

Coltrane said No. 211 did not have a history of trouble and was an example of the many grizzles that quietly share the city with residents.

"It just goes to show Anchorage is bear country," said Bruce Bartley, a Fish and Game spokesman. "This is a bear that had lived to a ripe old age in an urban setting and had done pretty well until today."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,409342,00.html

20080823 Coffee Seeking Driver Hits Grizzly Bear in Alaskan Street