By Steve Gorman
(Reuters) -Environmental groups sued Alaska’s wildlife authorities on Monday seeking to halt a predator control plan that lets game wardens hunt down unlimited numbers of bears from helicopters over a vast area roamed by a protected caribou herd.
The groups accuse the Board of Game of reinstating the program without adequately accounting for how it will affect grizzly and black bear populations, violating wildlife conservation provisions of Alaska’s constitution.
Their suit, filed in state district court in Anchorage, said state fish and game agents killed 175 grizzlies and five black bears since 2023, under two earlier versions of the program struck down by courts.
State wildlife officials have denied that their efforts to protect the caribou endanger bear populations.
Alaska Sued Over Aerial Hunting of Bears to Protect Caribou
