BELLEVUE, Wash. — Livestock owners near Bellevue are on high alert after animals were killed and eaten by a black bear in the Bridle Trails area.
Two other people in the area have reported close encounters between the bear and their pets, but luckily all the animals escaped with their lives.
As much as people hear about bears and what to do, seeing one up close was still scary for Lyn Chi as she watched a black bear walk around her deck.
“It was massive, it was huge,” Chi said.
“When I saw him heading that way I realized he was heading for the animals,” said Chi.
Chi used to work at a hospital in Alaska and said she’s seen bear attacks before, but this was the first time in ten years she’d seen one near her Bellevue home. Chi and her husband Gregg Mohr have five goats and many chickens.
Chi called out to her husband when she saw the bear climb the fence into her goats' pen. Mohr ran up with a stick. “His arm was waving and he started screaming, ‘Yah, yah!’ I saw the goats flying on both sides, I saw the bear in the middle,” said Chi.
The bear eventually ran away. “I for sure thought one of the animals would be attacked,” said Chi.
The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife suggests people lock up their livestock at night and utilize electric fences. All steps Chi and Mohr take.
“If it wasn’t for my husband, definitely, the animals would be attacked,” said Chi.
Nearly two weeks prior, just down the road from Chi, Audrey Smith said her donkey, Juan, was spooked.
“We’re pretty sure that the bear was wandering around and maybe chasing them for a bit," Smith said. "He got really scared and busted out the gate.”
15-year-old Juan ran down the road near Kirkland. It was an effort to get him back.
“Lots of neighbors and I think three police officers came,” said Smith.
Juan is now back safe.
“We’ve just been kind of keeping a watch so the bear doesn’t come back," said Smith.
Audrey and Lyn are trying to ensure this doesn’t happen again. “There’s nothing, no bloodshed, nothing happened, but I still feel very unsafe,” said Lyn.
There are currently 20,000 bears in Washington and many of these homes are backed up to green belts. Since the bear has been killed, Fish and Wildlife set a trap with no luck yet. The agency said they haven't made a decision about what will happen to the bear if it's captured.