A bear wandered into a post office – and what happened next was no joke

Employees sorting mail at an Anchorage, Alaska post office got a surprise Sunday when a bear wandered inside the facility.

The 270-pound black bear entered the Anchorage Processing and Distribution Center about 11:30 p.m. through a door used by mail trucks, reports KTUU, which posted a photo of a sign taped to a door at the facility that read, “Warning Black Bear on the Premises.” The facility at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport was closed to the public but about 40 employees were processing mail inside, said Dawn Peppinger, U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman.

The bear ended up in a garbage compacting room. Deputy Police Chief Dave Schulling said airport police officers responding to the emergency found 30 to 40 employees watching the bear, KTVA reports. Officers tried to shoo the bear outside but, apparently interested in the garbage, it refused to leave.

Officers shot the bear when it became aggressive, reports the Alaska Dispatch News.

The bear had ear tags and had been part of a research project, but its tracking collar had fallen off, said Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist Dave Battle. The carcass of the bear, an adult male, has been donated to the University of Alaska, Anchorage, for research.

Peppinger said she was not aware of any previous incidents of bears entering Alaska post offices.

This story was originally published October 13, 2017 at 2:37 PM with the headline "A bear wandered into a post office – and what happened next was no joke."