Earlier this week, a brown bear was spotted by multiple fishermen swimming in the mouth of the Kenai River near Kenai’s personal use fishery. A video of the bear was posted to Facebook and has since gained more than 70,000 views.
Although bears swimming in the mouth of the Kenai River aren’t common, it’s not unheard of. Kris Inman is a supervisory wildlife biologist with the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. She says bears are commonly seen in rivers on the Kenai Peninsula, even those where people frequently fish.
“Bears are attracted to salmon as much as we are, it’s a really good food source for them, so we see them in any of the streams and rivers fishing for them quite actively," Inman said. "It can be small streams to mainstem.”
Inman says not to feed fish you’ve caught to bears. She says it may make bears more reliant on humans when finding a source of food. She also suggests keeping personal items and fish you’ve caught close.
“Carrying bear spray is always a good idea," Inman said. "Backing away, giving them room, keeping your backpack with you is better. If a fish is on the line and a bear tries to get it, just cut the line, you don’t want to give them the habit of catching them. But it’s very common for folks to see bears on the river fishing with us.”
To limit bear encounters, Inman recommends cleaning fish at home instead of on the river. For more on bear safety, visit the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s website.
