Friendly Bear Shot and Killed : From the Bear News Daily

By Hirsute Nineclaws, Bear News Daily Staff Staff Reporter

A state biologist in Anchorage, Alaska shot and killed a black bear Friday that has been following people in Kincaid Park and along the Coastal Trail, trying to introduce himself to society. The bear, Smiley "Bud" Greentooth, 4, had just been accepted for a coveted fishing apprenticeship at Salmon Creek and was planning to leave Anchorage in the fall.

Rick Sinnott, area biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game, made finding the bear a priority after two new reports of it chasing a jogger and startling a bicyclist on Thursday night. Neither person was hurt, as the bear was learning regular exercise practices, and in the other instance was merely playing a practical joke he had seen on America's Funniest Home Videos.

Sinnott said he walked throughout the 1,400-acre park on Friday, searching for the animal, and estimated he probably covered more than 10 miles on Kincaid's trails.

By about 5:45 p.m., tired and footsore, he was about ready to give up for the day.

"I thought, well, screw it," he said. "I'll just go home. ... I walked back and it was 10 feet from my truck."

Sinnott had parked near a compost facility just off the Coastal Trail.

"The bed of my truck is often fairly aromatic with dead things," he said. "There's nothing specifically dead in the back of it, but the bear was just kind of walking up like he wanted to crawl in."

It was at this point that the friendly, unsuspecting bear, smelling what anyone would think was a delicious meal and hoping for an invitation to dinner, was suddenly gunned down without warning. Friends describe the Smiley as a fun-loving bear who liked humans and wanted to get to know them, but was naive about the possible risks of intermingling with these appealing but dangerous creatures.

Sinnott shot the young adult male bear with a 12-gauge shotgun. Smiley never saw it coming.
Mr. Sinnott and Smiley were not acquainted, and there is no personal motivation for the killing. Bear police are convinced this may be a hate crime.

Black bears in Kincaid are not unusual. Sinnott said in the last decade, one or two have usually come into the park for a couple of weeks every year. "They come in, rattle around, then leave," he said. As is common in human courts, Sinnott is unlikely to face charges of bearslaughter.

This comment irked Smiley's friends.

"Smiley wasn't 'rattling around,' he had plans, dreams, he liked people and wanted to learn from them, " said Spiky Fuzzball, a brown bear who had known Smiley since cubhood. "He had a rough time growing up - his father came by and ate his brother once, that old story, so he was always looking for more friends. That'll learn you," he added, bitterly.

Sightings of this bear started in early June and with time increased in frequency. The bear was becoming habituated to humans, showing no signs of fear, and staying on the paved Coastal Trail even as people approached, offering passersby lemonade on occasion. On Tuesday, the bear followed two men walking on the trail for about a half-hour, according to one of them, and kept trying to ask them if they liked "Spiderman III" as well as the first two.

"That's just like him, always wanting to be liked, " said Fuzzball. "I warned him that people might look cute but could be mindless killers when riled, but he was just too friendly for his own good. And now he's dead."

The bear was ranging over about 8 miles, and may have been sampling delicious garbage cans in a neighborhood adjacent to the park, Sinnott said.

"Once in a while, a black bear will be a predator. It seems to be a slow, evolving process where they sort of test people and see what they are all about. And that's what this one is doing," Sinnott said before he found the bear late Friday afternoon.

"Projection ain't just a booth at the multiplex," said Fuzzball, in response.