Fooded with military rations: a hungry bear broke into a military base in Alaska (3 photos)

Today, the U.S. military stocks up on Meal Ready-to-Eat (MRE) rations, complete meals that can be eaten by simply opening the package.





In Alaska, soldiers' rations have found new fans: hungry bears that have snuck into a storage facility at Elmendorf-Richardson to feast on the military rations.

On October 28, JBER Wildlife Conservation Division personnel responded to reports of a bear in a storage facility on the base. When they arrived, they found the warehouse had become the site of a "bear feast," with open packages of food strewn about, the base said in a statement.



Photos show open rations strewn across the floor, though it's unclear what they contained. The bears apparently took advantage of the opportunity to indulge their sweet tooth, with an open package of M&Ms visible in the mess.

But bears and humans have very different needs. The average human needs between 1,600 and 3,000 calories a day. A bear needs ten times that amount.

The average MRE contains about 1,250 calories, and the cold-weather rations the bears apparently got their hands on contain a bit more — about 1,540 calories, according to the Defense Logistics Agency.

But the bears at the base near Anchorage aren't just looking for food.