A black bear entered a hospital at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska, at about 2 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, and ate donated Halloween candy, according to the supplied report, which attributes details about the incident to Alaska’s News Source.
The bear reportedly made its way through the emergency department and came upon a bucket of candy. Sherri Warnke, who was leaving the hospital after visiting her mother, saw the animal in a dim hallway from roughly 30 feet away. The report says she did not have a hospital badge and could not open the locked doors along the corridor.
Warnke slowly moved backward, hoping the bear had not noticed her. The animal then found the candy, and she was able to leave safely. A hospital intercom announcement later warned people that a bear was inside the building. Despite the alert, some doctors reportedly came out to photograph it.
The bear left through the entrance it had used to get in. No one was injured, according to the report. Hospital staff later showed Warnke a surveillance image of the bear near the emergency department reception desk, where staff joked that it looked as if it were checking in.
The report places the encounter in the period leading up to Halloween and winter, when bears are preparing for hibernation. It describes the animal as a black bear but does not provide its size, how it entered the building, or whether wildlife officials responded. No further details about hospital operations during the incident were included in the supplied material.
