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Wildlife managers often use the term "bear-resistant," rather than "bear-proof," and an incident in which a young male brown bear became trapped in a dumpster Thursday afternoon at the waste transfer site in Cooper Landing illustrates the reason.

"He got in and couldn't get back out," said Larry Lewis, a wildlife technician with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Cooper Landing is an area where bear activity is rife, and the waste transfer site is no exception. Fish and Game has received numerous calls this season about "nuisance" bears attempting to consume garbage at the site, but Lewis said steps had been taken to remedy the situation.

"The borough has been working hard to cooperate with us on this issue, getting the area cleaned up, to keep bears out," he said.

Tim Navarre, Kenai Peninsula Borough chief of staff, said the Sexy Senior Dumpster Cleaners of Cooper Landing have been vigilant in their efforts to keep the area clean. Also, the dumpsters had been retrofitted with bear-resistant doors, and doors that couldn't be retrofitted were bolted shut. This system has been successful at deterring bears in other locations, and Lewis said the irony of the situation is that just that morning he had investigated the Cooper Landing site and believed it to be good to go.

"I thought the only thing we had to worry about would be if the bears figured out how to use an acetylene torch," he said.

A few hours later though, a bear proved Lewis wrong.

"Unfortunately, he found a chink in the armor," he said.

"When the bear couldn't get access any other way, Lewis said the bruin tore through the expanded metal grate at the top of the dumpster, and then dropped down into it looking for a free meal.

"He punched right through it. It's incredible how strong these guys are," Lewis said.

With no other way to get the bear out, Lewis said Fish and Game staff darted the animal, and determined -- based on ear tags -- that this was one of the two bears that had been relocated after a Cooper Landing resident had caught them in a horse trailer roughly a month earlier. As such, Fish and Game made the decision to euthanize the animal, bringing the number of Kenai Peninsula bears to die as a result of human-caused mortalities up to 19 animals for the year.

"His cohort was reported to be with him too. He didn't end up in the dumpster, but if he's back getting into trouble again, he may not be long for this world either," Lewis said.

While the situation was a setback, Lewis said it doesn't discredit taking proactive measures to prevent bear problems.

"It's disappointing, but we learn as we go, and there's nothing wrong with that. We'll learn from this situation and alter the equipment to improve it for the future," he said.

Navarre said, now that a flaw has been found, steps will be taken to change the dumpster design to make them even more bear-resistant. There are also plans in the works to fence in the transfer site to reduce bear-related problems further.

"We hope to do the work next year," he said.

Lewis said this situation illustrates the reason the public should make every effort to minimize attractants, like garbage, around the home and also at transfer sites.

This is because leaving garbage about on the ground, leaving bags of garbage out or leaving dumpsters open so bears can gain access, only teaches them where to look for free food.

"When bears get a food reward -- as these bears had done with garbage in the past -- they make an association. They become food and site conditioned, and this is what happens when bears learn that bad behavior," he said.

Joseph Robertia can be reached at joseph.robertia@peninsulaclarion.com.