Beware trichinosis in bear meat

Larry Leschper with a very big Southeast black bear taken on a spring hunt this week some years ago. Lee Leschper photo

Spring bear hunters are harvesting some impressive bruins this month.

One thing they need to remember is proper care of the bear meat they bring home.

Until June 1 Alaska bear hunters must retain the meat of a harvested black bear.  This doesn’t apply to brown bears and black bears after June 1, when the quality of the meat can deteriorate depending on what they eat.

Remember one thing about bear meat—it’s almost guaranteed to be carrying the trichinosis parasite.  This nasty bug is most often associated with pork, both wild and domestic, but turns out that bears are many times more likely to carry trichinosis.  The only thing that kills the trichinosis and makes the meat safe to eat is high temperature cooking.  Freezing won’t do it.

Update from our reader Ben Cox:  here’s what the CDC has to say about trichinosis in wild game.

Like most wild game, bear meat has fans and not-to-fans.  Some liken it to fine pork, others to the wildest of wild meat.

My family has eaten a lot of spring black bears and we always had them made into sausage by Jerry’s Seafood, an excellent Juneau meat processor.

I even brought home the meat from my first spring brown bear, a grass-fed Southeast brownie that looked entirely edible.  And was able to choke down a few links of sausage before I gave the rest away. When you taste brown bear, you know you are not eating cow.  I can’t describe the flavor, but I have great respect (and curiosity) for those who subsist on grizzly!

Spring bear hunting is one of the glorious adventures in Alaska that we take for granted while others envy.  The weather is glorious, the animals smart, tough and worthy of respect, and the whole experience what dreams are made of, even when the weather or the bears turn on you.

Hank Snow, who blogs on wild meat and cooking it, provides some excellent background on trichinosis in bear meat.  You can read his full story here.

ADF&G also provides some useful information on trichinosis in Alaska.