Alaska tests bear-proof trash bins

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, April 22 (UPI) -- About 500 Anchorage, Alaska, homes are being provided with free bear-resistant garbage cans to keep bears out of their trash during the summer months.

Alaska Waste officials said the 96-gallon BearSaver trash bins will be given to homes in two neighborhoods to use between May and October to test the new design's ability to keep the bears out, the Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday.

"We've never done something like this in Anchorage before," said Elizabeth Manning, a wildlife education and outreach specialist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "The basic purpose of the program was to expand the use of bear-resistant cans."

Anchorage-area wildlife biologist Rick Sinnott said the two areas where the cans will be tested, Stuckagain Heights and Muldoon, are among the worst for bear-related problems.