Alaska Says There Aren’t Enough Reindeer in Its Forests, so It Plans to Shoot Wolves and Bears From Helicopters

The goal is to increase reindeer and caribou populations, but critics question its effectiveness.

Alaska plans to shoot wolves and bears from helicopters
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carlos-prego

Carlos Prego

Writer
carlos-prego

Carlos Prego

Writer

I have more than 12 years of experience in media that have passed by too quickly. I've been writing for Xataka since 2018 and I'm mainly in charge of content for the site’s Magnet vertical. I’m especially interested in technology, science, and history. LinkedIn

66 publications by Carlos Prego

Living with wild animals isn’t always easy. That’s well known in Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Romania, all countries—though not the only ones—that have moved to control bear or wolf populations with guns, even in urban areas. Alaska, however, is going several steps further. To eliminate dozens of animals across an 20,000-acre forested area in the northern U.S. state, officials will use more than rifles, shotguns, and traps—they’ll deploy helicopters to shoot their targets.

The decision has outraged environmentalists, who warn it’s unclear whether the measure, which they call “barbaric,” will achieve its intended goal.

What happened? Alaska is preparing to resume an extreme strategy to control wolf, black bear, and brown bear populations in part of its territory: hunting them from the air using helicopters and light aircraft. According to The Guardian, the program allows hunters to wipe out most of these species across about 20,000 acres of state land.

The latest program will permit “aerial hunters” to eliminate 80% of wolves, reducing the population to 35; 80% of black bears, bringing their numbers to about 700; and 60% of grizzly bears, reducing their population to 375, The Guardian reports.

Wolfs In Alaska

Are these measures isolated? Not at all. Helicopter hunting is just one of several tactics under consideration that have sparked outrage among environmentalists. Critics also condemn practices such as killing wolf and coyote pups in their dens, using motorboats to hunt caribou in the water, and using artificial lights and dogs to drive wolves and bears—and their cubs—out of caves.

Nor are these practices new. In 2015, former President Barack Obama banned several controversial methods, but the National Park Service overturned those restrictions during Donald Trump’s first term. According to The Guardian, while former President Joe Biden aimed to reinstate Obama-era rules, he largely maintained the policies of his Republican predecessor.

Nearly 100 bears and 20 cubs killed. Shooting animals from helicopters isn’t new, either. According to the Alaska Wildlife Alliance (AWA), the state created a bear control program in the Wood-Tikchik watershed in 2022, hiring officials and contractors to shoot nearly 200 bears. In 2023 alone, 99 bears, including 20 cubs, were killed.

“The program is scheduled to continue every Spring until 2028,” the organization said. As the policy moves forward, critics continue to push back.

“The largest government kill ever.” Late last year, AWA called for the proposal to be rejected. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a group that supports officials advocating for environmental ethics, has also opposed the measure.

“The state of Alaska wants to continue a controversial program of aerial gunning bears and wolves for a third year even though its own internal assessment concedes that it may not have the desired effects,” PEER argues. It warns, “Alaska’s aerial gunning program constitutes the largest government kill of brown bears anywhere, ever.” According to PEER, in 2024, the Department of Fish and Game killed 95 predators, mostly bears, across about 521 square miles—mostly, they claim, by helicopter.

Why is this happening? The goal is to control bear and wolf populations. But that’s only part of the reasoning. Officials also hope to reduce predation on caribou and moose herds and boost their numbers. With fewer predators, they argue, calves will have a better chance of survival, potentially leading to more trophy game. Critics, however, question whether the strategy will work.

PEER says Alaska officials have at least one report, signed in October, stating it’s unclear whether killing bears and wolves has increased caribou herds. The same report highlights other factors affecting caribou populations, including disease, weather, and malnutrition.

Missing the mark. More than two-thirds of necropsied caribou calves “died of starvation or dehydration.” Meanwhile, the species is suffering from the “active and continuing spread of brucellosis,” a disease that can reduce calf survival, PEER said, citing the state’s October report.

The organization also warns that the Department of Fish and Game cannot properly assess the program’s impact because it didn’t estimate the initial grizzly bear density in the region. It adds: “More than half of the brown bears killed in 2024 were adult females, while more than a fifth were cubs. The state refuses to allow photographs of the slaughter to be taken, independent observers to be present, or to subject the program to scientific review by the National Academy of Sciences.”

Inhumane and inane. “Alaska’s practice of indiscriminately strafing predators is both inhumane and inane,” PEER’s ecologist Rick Steiner told The Guardian. “There is no scientific evidence that this carnage will boost populations of moose and caribou, and there is a growing body of evidence that it disrupts a healthy predator/prey balance in the wild.”

AWA goes further, arguing that bears and wolves help control the spread of brucellosis, a factor that could impact ungulate populations. Another major factor, it says, is climate change’s effect on the ecosystem.

Images | Eric Hooper (Unsplash) Watts

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