There have been some relatively uncommon wildlife sightings in Petersburg as well as out the road on Mitkof Island this summer. Earlier this month, local authorities received a couple of calls about individual wolves in town, one of which was reportedly encountered by the Nature Boardwalk behind the elementary school. The animals are not often spotted so close to populated areas.
There have also been two sightings of brown bear on the Island. Southeast Brown bear generally live on the mainland as well as Admiralty, Baranof and Chichagof islands in Northern Southeast. They’ve been encountered on Mitkof in the past, but what’s more unusual this time around is that these instances were captured on camera. One brown bear was at Frederick Point East in early August and the other was observed at Blind River Rapids in late July.
Photo courtesy Dan and Darcie Ewert who spotted this brown bear at Frederick Point East.
Matt Lichtenstein spoke with Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Rich Lowell about the various sightings:
To see a short video of the Brown Bear at Frederick Point East, click here Video courtesy Dan and Darcie Ewert.
