Last year, Fish and Game and the Juneau Police Department received roughly 470 calls about bear activity. By the end of August this year, they had already fielded more than 600.

Black bears have taken over a Juneau arboretum, shut down a fish-cleaning facility in Cordova and added to an unusually high year of bear kills in Anchorage, prompting one wildlife authority to call this summer the "craziest" year of bear encounters he's seen.

Furry visitors have kept the residents of Angoon on their toes for the past few weeks. Several bears have made a habit of passing through town.

A hunter from B.C. is recovering from a bear mauling earlier this week. Conservation officers say the attack was predatory, meaning the bear wanted to eat the man.