newsminer.com

ANCHORAGE -- A sow grizzly killed this week has been cleared of the most severe attack in Anchorage parks this summer.

Preliminary genetic testing indicates the bear killed Tuesday was not the one that attacked a 15-year-old bicyclist taking part in an all-night race earlier this summer.

The testing involved comparing the sow's DNA to samples taken from the helmet and bicycle of teenager Petra Davis.

"The DNA doesn't match. It appears as though that bear wasn't involved in the Petra Davis attack," said Dr. Sandra Talbot of the U.S. Geological Survey's Alaska Science Center. "It's just preliminary, but I'm pretty confident of the results."

The sow was killed Tuesday morning after she and her two cubs were seen eating a moose carcass in an Anchorage neighborhood. After the mother was killed, the cubs scattered. One has been captured and will be transferred to a zoo in the Midwest. The search continues for the second cub.

No one saw the bear involved in the nighttime attack on Davis, and there was never any indication that it was a sow with cubs, Alaska Department of Fish and Game spokesman Bruce Bartley said.

However, the bear killed Tuesday is believed to have attacked runner Clivia Feliz on Aug. 8 on the same trail. DNA tests are pending.

Officials set up cameras along the trail - which will be closed until first snowfall - this month, and saw only one sow with cubs.

Fur markings on the cubs at the moose kill site were matched those spotted in the trail photos, Bartley said. Officials were also fairly certain the sow in the photos was the one that attacked Feliz, he said.

"Just given the proximity, and the frequency of their being seen in that country, it's just unlikely that there's a mix-up," Bartley said. "I'm not suggesting that we've got all the brown bears on record, but the only other sow that we know with cubs this year never ventures in that part of the world."

The cubs orphaned after the sow was killed are about 8 months old and still nursing, Bartley said.

Anchorage Parks and Recreation director Jeff Dillon has recommended the trail remain closed because salmon are still spawning and the summer has simply seen too much action.

"We've had unusual bear activity this year, and we think it was the right thing to do for public safety," Dillon said. "Since we can't clearly know that it was a rogue bear and not just increased bear activity, we are going to maintain the closure."