Judge Allows Alaska to Resume Bear Killings from Helicopters to Aid Mulchatna Caribou Herd

Alaska wildlife agents can resume shooting and killing black and brown bears, including from helicopters, as part of a plan to help recover the Mulchatna caribou herd, a judge ruled Wednesday.

The herd once supplied up to 4,770 caribou a year for subsistence hunters from dozens of communities in southwest Alaska. It peaked at around 190,000 animals but began declining in the late 1990s and early 2000s. By 2019, numbers stood around 13,000. Last year, the state Department of Fish and Game estimated 16,280 animals. Hunting has not been allowed since 2021.

Two conservation groups, the Alaska Wildlife Alliance and Center for Biological Diversity, sought to halt the program while their lawsuit challenging its legality proceeds. Superior Court Judge Adolf Zeman said the groups failed to show the state acted without a reasonable basis for approving the plan.

The ruling comes as the Mulchatna herd prepares to calve soon. Calves are especially vulnerable to bears and wolves.

State officials view the bear-killing program as key to herd recovery. From 2023 to 2024, the state killed 180 bears, most brown bears, plus 11 more last year, according to the groups' lawsuit. The Alaska Wildlife Alliance said 99 bears, including 20 cubs, were killed from the air in less than a month in 2023.

The groups argue the Alaska Board of Game reinstated the program last year without key data on bear population numbers and sustainability.

Cooper Freeman, Alaska director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement the groups want the caribou herd to thrive, "but the state simply hasn't shown that the unrestrained killing of bears is going to help us get there."

"We need to stop this disgraceful waste of the state's limited resources and work based on science to protect all our wildlife," Freeman said.

State attorneys said officials took a "hard look" at factors related to bear numbers. Alaska has an estimated 100,000 black bears and 30,000 brown bears.

"The herd has persisted at low numbers but started showing a positive response since 2023, when bear removal during calving seasons began," they wrote in a court filing.

The Alaska Department of Law welcomed Zeman's decision "to allow this management program to continue during the upcoming caribou calving season, a crucial time for herd recovery," spokesperson Sam Curtis said by email. The department represents the board and Department of Fish and Game.

"Continuing this program makes sense in light of the scientific record," Curtis said.

Attorneys with Trustees for Alaska, representing the conservation groups, are reviewing the ruling and "will consider all available options," spokesperson Madison Grosvenor said by email.

The program has faced ongoing litigation. A judge last year, in a case brought by the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, found fault with the adoption process and said the state lacked data on bear sustainability. Emergency regulations were later struck down. The board reauthorized the program last July after a public process.

According to the Alaska Wildlife Alliance, state biologists in 2020 determined the herd's decline stemmed mainly from disease and lack of food.