The northern Alaskan town of Kaktovik helps keep hungry polar bears outside of town with regular bear patrols. Activity is highest during whaling season, when the bears are drawn to the smell of meat. Scientists predict increased human-polar bear encounters as the sea ice melts and more bears are driven ashore.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has issued new guidelines to help protect both polar bears—a threatened species—and people. Among them:
- Build "bear exclusion cages around entryways
- Seal trash in bear-proof containers
- Use air horns or gun a car engine to scare a bear away
- Use boats or trucks to block approaching bear
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