Juneau police report several encounters between humans and bears over the weekend, including an incident that left one little cub dead.
Sgt. Chris Gifford says police received several reports of bears in trash cans or sheds, largely in the Mendenhall Valley.
Two bears were hit by vehicles. One bear ambled across North Douglas Highway at about the 4500 block, but it scampered off after it got hit just after 8 o’clock Sunday night. Gifford says the bear’s size was undetermined.
Another bear, a small one, got hit on Glacier Highway near Industrial Boulevard after 11 p.m. Sunday. Gifford says the bear was hurt so severely that the officer responding to the scene euthanized it. The carcass was turned over to the Alaska State Troopers for possible salvage.
Juneau police officers on Friday shot one bear with a non-lethal round after it drew a large crowd of people at 9th and B Street. That bear took off after being hit, likely by a baggy with lead pellets that are designed not to penetrate hide or skin.
