Exclusive! Giant Brown Bear Electrocuted!

Both black and brown bears are common in Anchorage, but this happened in Kincaid Park, a large city park on the west side of Anchorage. The bear had either walked through the city using one of several greenbelts or the coastal wildlife refuge or it had swam across Cook Inlet. No one had previously reported seeing a brown bear in the park this summer, although it's not unusual to see black bears and an occasional brown bear in Kincaid Park every summer. A child discovered the dead bear during a bike ride on the Alex Sisson Trail. The bear had overturned a fiberglass pedestal and bit into an energized 4160 volt power cable. These electrical boxes are not uncommon, but no one we spoke with had heard of a bear doing this before. The local utility was called to respond even though it was determined the electric facilities were not owned by the utility. Some people have speculated that it might have been attracted to a humming or buzzing noise from the wires, but a bear is equally likely to bite a wire out of curiousity. The electricity left burn marks on the ground under its hind paws. The electricity left burn marks on the ground under its hind paws. The electricity left burn marks on the ground under its hind paws. In a park on the outskirts of Anchorage a large brown bear let curiousity get the best of it when it bit into a high-voltage cable. OL has the exclusive story and 11 photos. BEWARE, some images could be upsetting.

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