A camper shot and killed a black bear sow after the starving bruin repeatedly tried to enter his sleeping quarters last Saturday morning.

John Gibbs, a four-month employee of South Central Hardware, had been making camp at a site in Old Town. He was sleeping in his camper early Saturday morning when he was woken up by a ruckus created by the bear trying to enter his summer home.

Gibbs said he tried to chase the bear away but the sow was persistent and tried to re-enter his camper.

“She decided she wanted to come in,” John Gibbs said, “I shot her in the mouth.”

Police confirmed the bear sow was killed in defense of life or property, a DLP bear in police parlance. “He fired one round and killed it,” said Chals Shumate,

“It was extremely emaciated,” said Challs Shumate, the officer called to the scene after the shooting. “It appeared very old.”

It was not Gibbs first encounter with the old sow, which was not nursing or mothering cubs at the time of death.

“I’d had problems with her when I was in the tent,” Gibbs said, which was why he had been sleeping in the camper. The old bear had previously shredded his tent. “I didn’t really want to shoot her.”

Shumate gave Gibbs paperwork the state requires people to fill out after shooting wildlife in defense of property. Gibbs is also required to skin the bear and turn the skull and skin – with claws attached – to wildlife officials.

“Her teeth were broken down and stuff,” Gibbs said, “There was gray on her muzzle and her head.”

Gibbs’ campsite was free of food attractants, such as ice chests and barbeques that most often attract bears to campsites.

“There is a lot of bear activity right now,” Valdez Police Chief Bill Comer said. “We had to trap and kill three recently.”

In a sad but classic scenario, the bears come looking for easy meals supplied by people. Trash cans, dog food and fish smokers left outside homes are sure to attract bears this time of year. The meals become too easy and the bears lose their fear of humans and have to be killed when they become a public safety hazard.

Other human and bear encounters also put bears in danger of death. The brown bear sow with three cubs that frequent the area around the fish weir at Allison Point; the traffic jams that ensue when the bears appear put both people and the bears at risk.

Then there is the more serious danger that ensues when people crowd bears, especially mother grizzlies with cubs.

“She’s very tolerant of people,” Comer said, but not so tolerant when she gets separated from her three cubs. “She’s been posturing and growling,” when it has occurred.

Wildlife officials are often tasked with trapping and killing sows and cubs when they become aggressive towards people.

“We’re trying to find the best possible way to deal with the issue with the bears,” said Tony Beck, the Alaska Wildlife Trooper in Valdez. “The problem is, we can sit over there and tell 100 tourists don’t, and they won’t.”

But the next day 100 new tourists see the bears and do. And the next day after that and all through summer.

“It’s getting to be more and more issues,” Comer said.

Recently, a number of city, state and industry officials met to address the chronic bear problem in Valdez.

“The simple answer is just kill them,” Comer said, “It’s not my policy on what to do.”

Comer said he hopes to see the development of a bear viewing area at Allison Point, where hungry brown and black bears come to feed on salmon returning to the hatchery on Dayville Road. It is also where hungry people come to camp and fish for the same returning salmon.

“I see them as a valuable resource,” of the bears, Comer said, “We should capitalize on this.”