I'll never forget. We had only been in Alaska a short while when our kids came home and told us that there
had been a grizzly bear out on the middle school football field.
This middle school was only a few miles from our house and all I could think was "Wow, we really are in
Alaska!" It was cool and scary at the same time.
Where else but in Alaska do you have these types of converstations at the dinner table? It was pretty
exciting!
The Sign Got Our Attention!
A Quick Side Story: We hadn't been in Alaska long, when we went fishing for Silver Salmon
on the Little Susitna River...near the end of the Knik Goose Bay Road (south of Wasilla).
To get to the fishing spot, we had to go down a trail, that ran along the bank of the river.
Posted at the head of that trail was a hand-written sign warning that a bear had been seen in the area
that very day! My boys and I looked at that, then at each other...wide-eyed!
We then observed one group of fishermen after another pass us up, and head down
that trail, without even given the bear notice a second look.
Hesitantly we followed everybody else down the trail, but we knew, for sure,
that we had arrived in Alaska. We never did see a bear that day, though!
Grizzly Bear or Brown Bear
What are the Differences?
A brown bear is actually a grizzly, but a bigger version of one. Brown bears are grizzly bears that
live roughly 200 miles or lessfrom coastal areas. They get bigger due to a regular diet of salmon and
other plentiful food supply.
Alaska is home to 98% of the brown bear population in the United States.
Bear Viewing in Anchorage
and The Surrounding Area
Although it is impossible to guarantee a bear sighting, Alaska has one of the largest populations of
black, brown and polar bears in the world.
Most visitors won't see a polar bears though. They live in the extreme far north of Alaska.
If done properly, bear viewing is safe and it is an experience that one will never forget.
Four Ways to See a Bear in Alaska
Alaska Bear Viewing Tours
The near sure bet to see Alaskan Brown Bears in the wild is to booka bear viewing tour to The Brooks River
Falls in Katmai National Park.
It is estimated that some 2000 bears live in the park.
Brooks River Falls is world-famous. You have probably seen a similar picture, as the one to the left,
on posters and calendars.
Katmai National Park is southwest of Anchorage, over the Cook Inlet.
To get there, book a commercial flight to King Salmon Alaska and then charter air service to Brooks camp.
Expect to pay $500-$600 round-trip...lodging not included.
Find out more at The Katmai National Park's website
The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
Ok, some of you might think that going to a wildlife park is cheating, when it comes to viewing Alaskan
bear and other Alaskan wildlife. I did to!
But this isn't a zoo. It's location is very natural and beautiful. It's a great stop that won't take but
an hour, or so, of your time.
The park was established by Mike Miller in 1988 on a 150 acre homestead that he purchased.
The purpose of the park is to take care of injured, abandoned and orphaned wildlife.
Some of the animals you'll see are brown bears, moose, black bears, bobcats and deer!
See Them in The Wild!
Alaska being Alaska, an opportunity to see a bear can present itself at anytime in almost any location.
In Alaska bear attacks make the news somewhat regularly.
There are no regular places to see a bear in the city of Anchorage, but two places that you stand the
best chance is in the Hillside neighborhood and Bird Creek.
Hillside Neighborhood
Each year the city of Anchorage gets after citizens who do notproperly store and discard their trash.
The bears love to get into their trash cans. The city has even started to fine residents who do not secure
their trash!
This something that you don't read about in travel brochures,but I thought you'd like to know. Take an
early morning drivein the hillside areas...you never know what you might see.
Hillside refers to the homes located in the foothills of the Chugach State Park, which serves as a backdrop
to the city of Anchorage.
Bird Creek Area
Last summer the hot spot to see a bear was in the Bird Creek area. Bird Creek is about 15 minutes south
of Anchorage.
It is one of the best nearby fishing hot spots ... and where there are fish, bears usually
aren't far away!
Whether you want to fish or just watch others fish, Bird Creek is a great place to go.
If you prefer just to watch, you can go right down to the water's edge or watch from viewing platforms that
were recently built.
It's quite nice.
Bird Creek has undergone a big transformation in the last few years. Cars used to line up for miles along
the narrow Seward Highway, but now a parking area, a paved walking path and the viewing platforms make the experience much safer and nicer.
Sheri and I went there on a week day morning last summer just tosee if any fish were being caught. I
watched for about a half hour and I would estimate that I saw a fish on 50% of the lines that were in
the water.
There were about 80 people fishing at the time. Yes, that is a lot of fish!!
...Back to the Bears!
Bird Creek was the focal point for a lot of local newspaperand television coverage. Bears were frequent
visitors
Nearly everyday, last summer, there would be pictures and articles about bears at Bird Creek.
Many of the newspaper articles served as reminders to those that fished there to act in an appropriate
manner.
What was happening was this...
The bears would smell or see the caught fish on the shore near the a fisherman. Once the bear got too
close, many fishermen would panic a bit and throw their catch to the approaching bear.
Anything to keep a bear from following them!
According to wildlife officials, this practise was teachingthe bears to be lazy. The bears were finding
it easier to walkup to a fisherman and have a fish, thrown to them rather than actually have to catch a
fish for themselves.
How easy for the bear, huh? Sounds like pretty smart bears to me!
Wildlife officials didn't like what was happening so they wereactive in instructing those who fished there
to keep their gearand caught fish close at hand.
Then, when a bear approached, they needed to gather their stuffand walk away long before the bear got too
close to them.
Not following this instruction would, officials worried, eventually endanger both those fishing and the
bears.
