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Stop Alaska’s Horrific Helicopter Bear Hunts

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Sponsor: The Animal Rescue Site

Alaska can help caribou without gunning down bears from helicopters. State leaders must suspend this program now.

Large brown bear stands on muddy ground near the shore while three cubs cluster beside her.

A judge has allowed Alaska wildlife agents to resume killing black and brown bears, including from helicopters, as part of a state effort to support the Mulchatna caribou herd.1 The decision arrived as the caribou calving season approached, when predator-control operations can move quickly and cause irreversible harm.

The Mulchatna herd has declined sharply from historic levels, and its loss has harmed subsistence access for Alaska Native communities. That reality deserves serious action. But killing bears from the air is a severe response that must meet the highest scientific and public accountability standards.

The Program Remains Under Legal Challenge

Alaska Beacon reported that the ruling allows the Department of Fish and Game to kill bears ahead of calving season while conservation groups continue to challenge the program.2 The Center for Biological Diversity said the litigation contests the reinstated bear-control program and argues that Alaska has not shown the unrestrained killing of bears will restore the herd.3

Alaska Wildlife Alliance says the state created the bear-control program without adequate public review and that state personnel and contractors killed nearly 200 bears in earlier operations.4 Reuters previously reported that environmental groups sued Alaska over the aerial hunting program, arguing that the state had failed to assess impacts on bear populations and sustainability.6

Caribou Recovery Must Be Science-Based

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s 2026 intensive management report describes predator removal connected to Mulchatna caribou management.5 But public documents and agency goals are not a substitute for independent review, transparent population data, and clear limits that prevent excessive harm to bears.

Alaska’s governor, Department of Fish and Game, and Board of Game have the power to suspend the program, require outside scientific review, disclose bear population impacts, and shift resources toward habitat, disease, nutrition, climate resilience, and community-based caribou recovery.

Caribou deserve protection. So do bears. Alaska should not pit species against each other through a program that uses helicopters and lethal force before the public can trust the science behind it.

Sign now to urge Alaska leaders to suspend helicopter bear killing and require independent, science-based caribou recovery that protects all wildlife.

More on this issue:

  1. Becky Bohrer, Associated Press (7 May 2026), "Alaska wildlife agents can kill bears from helicopters in an effort to protect caribou, judge says."
  2. Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon (6 May 2026), "After legal challenge, Alaska judge approves state’s revised bear cull in Southwest Alaska."
  3. Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Biological Diversity (6 May 2026), "Court Ruling Lets State Kill Bears in Southwest Alaska Despite Ongoing Lawsuit."
  4. Alaska Wildlife Alliance, Alaska Wildlife Alliance (2026), "Mulchatna Predator Control."
  5. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, State of Alaska (February 2026), "Annual Report on Intensive Management for Mulchatna Caribou with Predation Control."
  6. Nate Raymond, Reuters (11 November 2025), "Alaska sued over aerial hunting of bears to protect caribou."

The Petition

Dear Governor, Department of Fish and Game Commissioner, and Members of the Alaska Board of Game,

I urge you to immediately suspend aerial bear killing in the Mulchatna region and require independent scientific review before any further lethal predator-control operations proceed.

The decline of the Mulchatna caribou herd is serious. Caribou are ecologically important and deeply tied to food access, culture, and community well-being for Alaska Native communities. The state has a responsibility to support recovery.

But gunning down black and brown bears from helicopters is an extreme action. It should not continue while serious questions remain about scientific justification, bear population impacts, public review, and whether the program can actually achieve long-term caribou recovery.

Recent reporting shows that Alaska wildlife agents have been cleared to resume killing bears from helicopters while litigation continues. Conservation groups have argued that the program lacks adequate data on bear populations and sustainability. Public confidence cannot exist when lethal wildlife decisions move faster than transparent science.

Alaska should not treat bears as disposable obstacles. Bears are part of the same ecosystems that caribou depend on. Predator-prey dynamics are complex, and caribou decline can involve habitat, disease, weather, nutrition, climate stress, and human impacts. Removing predators without full public evidence risks wasting resources and causing irreversible harm.

I ask you to suspend the current program, release clear data on bear populations and prior removals, commission independent scientific review, set enforceable limits, and prioritize nonlethal, habitat-based, and community-informed caribou recovery measures. Alaska should also provide meaningful public process before future predator-control plans are approved.

Caribou recovery and bear protection should not be treated as opposing goals. The state can act with care, science, transparency, and respect for all wildlife.

Please stop helicopter bear killing and replace this program with a credible, humane, science-based recovery plan.

Sincerely,

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