Brown bear euthanized after being hit by car

KENAI (AP) -- A large brown bear was euthanized after it was struck by a car on the Kenai Spur Highway.

Fish and Game wildlife technician Larry Lewis said he got a call for assistance from the Kenai Police Department at 2:30 a.m. Friday.

Lewis said he was familiar with the bear, which he had caught on May 22, 1998, while doing some work on the Swanson River. He suspects the bear, which was between 650 and 700 pounds, was one of the nuisance bears from the nearby North Dogwood neighborhood.

The bear is the fifth killed in about a week's time.

Four bears were killed in the Kenai-Soldotna area last weekend.

Two brown bears and one black bear that had become threats to life and property were shot and killed, and one brown bear was struck and killed by a motorist on the Sterling Highway just south of Soldotna.