Alaska Judge Allows Bear Killing for Caribou Recovery

A Superior Court judge in Alaska ruled Wednesday that state wildlife agents can resume killing black and brown bears, including from helicopters, to support the recovery of the Mulchatna caribou herd in southwest Alaska, a key subsistence resource for Alaska Native hunters.

Judge Adolf Zeman denied a request from the Alaska Wildlife Alliance and the Center for Biological Diversity to block the program while their lawsuit proceeds. The groups argued that the Alaska Board of Game reinstated the plan last July without sufficient data on bear populations and their sustainability. Zeman found that the conservation organizations failed to demonstrate the state lacked a reasonable basis for approval.

The decision comes at a critical time, as the Mulchatna herd is due to begin calving soon. State officials from the Department of Fish and Game consider the bear removal effort essential, noting that newborn calves are especially vulnerable to predation by bears and wolves. Agents previously killed 180 bears from 2023 to 2024, mostly brown bears, and 11 more last year, according to the groups' lawsuit.

The Mulchatna herd once numbered around 190,000 animals at its peak and supplied up to...