Bear Spotted Roaming Kodiak

Bear, thought to be a juvenile male. Photo by Trooper Mike Munson
Bear, thought to be a juvenile male. Photo by Trooper Mike Munson

Kayla Desroches/KMXT

A young bear is roaming town.

He’s drawn a lot of attention on social media, and Fish & Game area wildlife biologist Nate Svoboda says his department started getting reports Friday.

He says the wanderer is probably a 3-year-old juvenile male whose mother just kicked him out and who is now looking for a place of his own.

“That’s typically what happens with male bears. Young female bears have a tendency to set up their home ranges very near the females, their mothers. Male bears on the other hand have a tendency to disperse. They’re also more curious, and so they’re the ones that have a tendency to get out and roam around and get into mischief.”

He explains the bear is the equivalent of a teenager finding his place in the world. As for the mother, she’s likely on the prowl for another mate. Svoboda says brown bear females usually evict their cubs for that purpose when the juveniles are around three.

Part of this young bear’s mischief probably involves scavenging for food. And the town offers plenty of it.

“It’s early in the year, the natural foods that might be available for them are usually far and few between at this time of year, and so they wander into town in search of a free meal. And that’s where the problems begin to take hold is once they come into town, they get into somebody’s dumpster, somebody’s roll cart, and get rewarded for that behavior, then they will continue to do so.”

He says community members should practice responsible waste management. For instance, they should avoid overfilling their roll carts and should always place garbage inside the dumpster rather than outside of it.

Although the bear might be a nuisance, Svoboda says he’s not a source of concern and will eventually move on. Right now, he’s just curious, trying to figure out how to get food, and otherwise working life out on his own without the benefit of his mother’s guidance.

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