An Eagle River man shot and killed a "large male black bear" that he said was threatening him and his dog at his home Saturday afternoon, according to Anchorage police.
Anchorage area biologist Dave Battle said the incident appears to be the first reported self-defense killing of a bear in Anchorage this year. Alaska State Troopers will determine whether the shooting met legal guidelines, police said.
At 3:32 p.m., police were told the homeowner had shot the black bear in the 3000 block of Misty Mountain Road, about a mile and a half away from the Eagle River Nature Center, police spokesperson Renee Oistad wrote in an email.
"The homeowner stated he saw the black bear on the front porch of his home, and tried to scare it off by loudly opening and shutting the front door," Oistad wrote in the statement. "The noise did cause the bear to leave the porch but not to leave the property."
The man's dog was tied up in the backyard, Oistad wrote. Shortly after the bear left the porch, the dog began to bark and the homeowner saw the bear approaching the dog. He then went back outside and tried to scare the bear away, Oistad said.
"The bear growled at the homeowner at which time the homeowner shot and killed the bear," Oistad wrote.
An incident report taken by an Anchorage police officer has been forwarded to Alaska State Troopers for further investigation, Oistad said.
Battle, the biologist, said police alerted him that a bear had been killed, apparently by a resident. He said Department of Fish and Game officials did not respond because the bear was already dead.
Battle said it's up to the homeowner to salvage the bear's skull and hide. Anyone who kills a bear in self-defense must fill out an online report and send it to the Department of Fish and Game, Oistad wrote in the statement.