Man in homeless camp spears black bear cub to death in East Anchorage

A black bear cub was killed with a spear at a homeless camp in East Anchorage Friday morning. According to officials, the bear was attracted by human food at the camp and was killed after trying to get into a tent with children inside.

An Alaska Wildlife Trooper arrived shortly after 11 a.m., when the Anchorage Police Department was already on the scene. A sow, assumed to be the dead cub's mother, was in a tree.

"The kill was in defense of life or property because it was reported as the bear was trying to get into a tent where there were small children inside," Ipsen said. Ipsen added there were no children on the scene when the wildlife trooper arrived.

It was originally reported that the cub had been shot to death.

The bears were drawn to the area because of the homeless camp's food supply, which the bears had been returning to for the last few days, Alaska Department of Fish and Game area biologist Dave Battle said.

"This was a large homeless camp; it had four or five large tents,"Battle said. "They had their food tent next to where they were sleeping. There was no attempt to take measures to keep the bears from coming back."

The bear was found with a stab wound in its side about 25 yards away from where it had been speared.

"(The wound) was kind of far back," Battle said. "It was surprising to me it went down so quickly. Usually, an animal hit as far back takes a lot longer to go down. It must have hit an artery."

While police investigated the scene, the sow came down from the tree. Battle described the sow's behavior as "persistent" as it tried to get back to the food at the camp, but not aggressive. During the investigation, the wildlife trooper fired rubber bullets to keep the sow away, Ipsen said.

According to Battle, it's only a matter of time before it returns.

"It will go back over there; there is no question. We advised the homeless camp folks to vacate the area immediately. If all the food is removed it won't have a reason to come back," Battle said.

Tandler was issued a citation for negligent feeding but was able to keep his homemade spear, made from a pole and machete blade. By 1 p.m., Ipsen said, the campers had cleared out.

Fish and Game took the bear carcass, spokesperson Ken Marsh said, adding that the animal will be skinned and used for educational purposes.

APD spokeswoman Jennifer Castro said the camp had been issued a vacate notice 10 days ago, but its residents had 15 days to take their belongings before officers would sweep the area.

Chris Klint contributed reporting to this story.