An attempt to teach a brown bear that it should not look to humans for food went awry at Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in Alaska when a Skagway police officer mistakenly shot the young adult bruin with a lethal slug instead of a rubber round.

Park Service officials said Monday that the bear was shot in the park's Dyea Campground Saturday evening and might still be alive.

The incident began earlier Saturday evening as campers were preparing meals and attempting to scare a bear from their site using a car horn, shouts and other forms of noise, a park release said. A Skagway police officer responded and decided it was necessary to “haze” the bear from the campground.

Bear “hazing” attempts to create a negative experience for a bear that seeks out human food sources or loses its natural avoidance of humans and developed areas. Standard “hazing” practice involves a shotgun loaded with non-lethal rubber slugs or a combination of rubber rounds and noise-deterrent rounds in sequence to deliver the greatest scare effect when chasing bears from developed areas such as a campground. When performed correctly, non-lethal rounds rarely damage the animal and are designed to inflict minimal momentary pain. While preparing his duty shotgun for non-lethal hazing, the officer inadvertently loaded a lethal slug into the chamber and it struck the bear in the hind section.

According to park officials, after it was shot the bear ran away from the campground. Police and park rangers looking for the bear saw it "swimming across the Taiya River toward an island near the west bank. (It) was last tracked entering the river downstream of the island as it became dark."

Authorities have not been able to verify that the bear has died from its wounds. Authorities believe that this bear is the same young adult brown bear that has been frequently observed around Dyea since early in the summer.

Visitors to Dyea are advised to report all bear sightings and to avoid approaching any bears. If a bear is observed to be limping or having difficulty walking or running call 911 or contact a ranger immediately to report the suspected injured bear. Cell service can be spotty or non-existent in Dyea, so visitors are encouraged to use the emergency phone outside of the Dyea Ranger Station which directly connects the user to Skagway Police Dispatch upon lifting the phone receiver.

The National Park Service and Skagway Police Department regret this unfortunate outcome for the bear and the increased risk to public safety. The two agencies have reviewed the incident and the officer actions and are working collaboratively to review bear management policies and training strategies to ensure that response personnel are well trained and working together to protect park wildlife and the visiting public.