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For over the last 10 years,
more research has gone into brown bears than any other species in Alaska!
Kodiak Bears are co- managed
by the Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game and the Kodiak National Wildlife
Refuge. The Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge was created in 1941 and
encompasses almost 2,000,000 acres. It
provides conservation and management of
not only bears, but many other species of flora and fauna found on Kodiak
and its surrounding islands.
Bear
research, management, habitat protection, along with healthy salmon stocks
have kept Kodiak bear numbers stable in most areas and allowed a slight
increase in others.
 Bear hunting is an important management
tool as well. Each year more than 5,000 hunters apply for 319
available permits to hunt brown bears. Both resident and non-resident
hunters support the local economy by buying food and equipment, chartering
boats and aircraft, and staying in lodges and hotels. Non-residents hunters
must be accompanied by registered guides and pay as much as $15,000 per
hunt.
In addition to the hunter harvest,
an average of 10 bears are killed each year in the defense of life or
property. The deaths of these bears reduce the number of bears available for
hunters. Because DLPs are likely to be young bears and/or females, this
loss has greater effect on the Kodiak population than the harvest of older
males commonly killed by hunters.
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