Key to bear safety: Training humans

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Humans have created a problem for black bears in the Lake Tahoe Basin, and education and major behavior changes will need to start now or the trapping and killing of bears who have become too comfortable around humans with easy food sources around Lake Tahoe will continue.

A large 500-pound fully urbanized black bear who has been calling South Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Keys his home turf for years is going to be trapped, removed, and killed. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has placed two bear traps in front of homes in the Tahoe Keys to catch the big guy.

The South Lake Tahoe Police Department has responded to calls of bear break-ins by this bear in the Tahoe Keys dozens of times in the last few months, and local black bear advocate Toogee Sielsch estimates this bear is responsible for 100 breaking and entering attempts and successes. Sielsch said the bear has become brazen and his behavior has elevated to the point where he busts down doors of homes with people inside.

"It's a dangerous situation," said Sielsch. "It breaks my heart."

There has been a lot of social media activity about the two current bear traps in the Tahoe Keys and blaming the homeowners at the locations of the traps for the situation.

"It's not just one person's complaint," said CDFW Supervising Wildlife Biologist Jason Holley. "We took it out of the hands of everyone who has contacted us and chose to take the bear lethally under the habituated bear policy."

Nobody is happy with the situation.

"It is the point of no return for this bear, but the public needs to fix the things that brought us to this point, or it will continue," said Holley.

"This is hard on staff, they don't become biologists to kill," he added.

Ann Bryant, executive director of the BEAR League is against the taking of this bear but agrees that lucrative and easy food sources will keep bringing bears into South Lake Tahoe and the Tahoe Keys, leading to dangerous situations such as this pending death for the bear.

"There is going to be another bear right behind him if they kill this bear," said Bryant. "Kill one, another moves into the territory."

"We don't agree with killing animals, it doesn't accomplish anything," said Bryant. "We are opposed and don't think it's the way to solve the problem. There are other ways to handle this."

She is concerned that people are using the CDFW when there is a bear situation instead of trying to fix the problem.

"We can't keep luring the bears in because of unsecured food and then kill them," said Bryant.

Hazing

Sometimes bears have to be hazed to change their behavior when they are getting too close to humans. Shots are fired using rounds that do not harm or damage the bear, but they do cause a sting to let the bear know he shouldn't be so familiar around humans.

This current big bear has been hazed, but not phased as he returned to his behaviors in the Tahoe Keys, something humans have helped create and allowed.

Holley said tough love is needed to get bears to learn to stay away. Not all bear traps are for bears tagged for depredation. He said CDFW has been repeatedly successfully been trapping in the area - they capture, tag and haze. They then study habits from the tags, and the hazing gives them a dose of conditioning.

"No diversion techniques now will make this bear stop. Even if we stopped trash and food sources tomorrow, this bear would not learn new behaviors," said Sielsch.

Education

Bears are very opportunistic and have adapted to taking food if there is nothing fighting back and preventing the action. In other areas that have black bears, numbers are much smaller than those in South Lake Tahoe. Yosemite has an estimated 300-500 black bears with an average of one bear for every 2.3 square miles.

The low estimate for South Lake Tahoe is two bears per one square mile.

Humans have caused the conflict and it will be up to humans to put an end to it. It isn't a tourist, new homeowner, or visitor-caused problem, it is a problem also perpetuated by those calling Tahoe home for years and decades.

"To keep bears safe we need to keep bears out of homes," said Bryant.

"At the end of the day, responsible bear living is about the proper storage of food and garbage," said Holley. "Ninety percent of our calls are about that. We need better trash management. Don't feed the bears!"

There are two parts to bear-human conflict - bears, and humans. Bears are not malicious by nature. They are not going away, and neither are humans so it is all about learning how to live with each other. Homes need to be bear-proofed, people need to be educated and learn food and trash management.

South Tahoe Refuse changed its garbage collection times so trash didn't have to be outside on the curb overnight. They start the daily routes at 7:00 a.m.

"We need to fix our mistakes," said Bryant.

The Bear League has loaned out electric mats to people who have had break-ins, but keeping them from that first break-in is key.

Do not leave trash and food in a garage, especially one that has a wooden door. Steel doors normally keep out bears as they go for the easier way in with a wooden garage door.

Lock car doors, doors at your home, including sliding glass doors. Even if you are home.

Many use ammonia, bleach, or Pine-Sol in their trash cans and around stored food. This won't help if a bear has already become habituated, but it may help at the start. Removal of the trash is best. One or two homeowners cannot change the behavior of this current habituated bear and it's too late to use ammonia or bleach on trash as it is not going to be a deterrent.

The BEAR League's home bear-proofing tips:
- Never Feed the Bears! Not Ever! Report any neighbors or visitors who are doing so to the BEAR League.
- Make birdfeeders inaccessible to bears or take them down.
- Do not leave accessible windows or doors open. Screens are not bear-proof.
- Be sure your doors are solid wood or metal and install and use heavy deadbolts.
- Consider electrifying your home, especially if you are part-time. This is the most effective defense against Bear break-ins. Call them for recommended techs - 530-525-PAWS (7297).
- Replace single-pane windows with double panes.
- If your house is not permanently occupied (if is a vacation home) it is highly recommended that all food be removed between visits or rentals and while the house is unoccupied. Bears smell spices, teas, and other food through the walls and normal bear instinct dictates that they use their claws, teeth and incredible strength to get at it.
- Securely block access to under-house crawl spaces before they go in to hibernate.
- Leave lights and radio or TV on when not at home.
- Do not use DeCon. It attracts bears.
- Don’t leave any garbage near the house.
- Don’t leave pet food outside and don’t feed pets outside.
- Don’t leave food in cars. Roll up windows and lock doors.
- Don’t talk nicely to bears who come near your house. Make them think you will harm them. Be aggressive with them.
- Use a paintball gun to scare a bear if he comes into your yard.
- Yell or blow a boat horn to let the bear know he’s unwelcome in your yard. When he turns to run throw a rock at him.
- Be dominant, not submissive, if a bear comes onto your property.
- Don’t stand there and take photos. You are telling the Bear it's ok for him to stay by this action.

They have 25,000 magnets (see photo above) as a reminder to residents and visitors to lock up trash and not feed bears. Bryant said they have been very popular.

"The BEAR League with our partners imagine a Tahoe where it’s abundantly obvious to everyone who visits or lives here that the prevailing attitude is to respect and protect our wildlife. We feel the magnets, displayed literally everywhere, will present the undeniable statement that the vast majority of Tahoe’s residents will not tolerate apathetic trash management or deliberate feeding of bears. Those who disrespect and ignore these important ‘rules of forest etiquette’ will now realize they stand alone,” said Bryant in a press release about the magnets. To find out more, visit HERE.

CDFW also dedicates web pages to California's black bears and food/trash management. To see more, visit https://wildlife.ca.gov/Keep-Me-Wild/Bear.

Caldor Fire

While the bear population may have seemed to increase during the Caldor Fire, Sielsch said it did not.

"We gave them a free and open town for a week," he said, but there was already a dense population of black bears in South Lake Tahoe.

Black bear populations in the state and Lake Tahoe Basin have been steadily increasing. Law enforcement in Meyers and South Lake Tahoe during the evacuation saw many bears wandering the streets since they were left with a town and no deterrents.

Tahoe Keys

Overall, there is a dense population of black bears in all of South Lake Tahoe, not just in the Tahoe Keys. But, the Keys are right in the middle of bear territory with the Upper Truckee Marsh with its natural food sources on one side and SR89 and quick access to the forest on the other. Many bears have been known to give birth under decks and homes in the Keys.

For years there have been restrictions on Keys homeowners with a ban on bear boxes for trash, and a requirement of wood-only garage doors. But things are changing.

According to the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association (TKPOA), homeowners can put in an application with them just as with any other improvement. When approved a bear box can be installed.

As a group, the TKPOA is trying to teach humans how to live with bears, how to bear-proof, and other needed educational tools. CDFW and Sielsch have provided them with brochures and articles for their lobby, and they have been featured in their homeowner's magazine, the Keys Breeze.

Going forward

While doing nothing at this point isn't an option for this big bear, change can happen for the future as we learn to live with bears. There are many more bears in the urbanized area than ever before. While it is a point of no return for this bear, it will take a collective effort to fix things now, or more bears will be killed.

Everyone agrees, education is key but people need to want to be educated.

Don't feed the bears, it's as simple as that. Apartment complexes, resorts, and restaurants need to have dumpsters locked at all times.

Holley said they have DNA on the bear they are targeting and will release any bears trapped if they don't match. Not many other bears are active at this time, just the big guy. One bear was caught in a trap in the Keys this fall when they attempted to catch the current problem bear, and it was released when found to be the wrong bear.

Urbanized bears do not know how to live in the wild, so keeping them from being urbanized is their only hope. Another 500-pound bear in Kings Beach was relocated into the wild after being tagged and hazed, but he was later found at 250-pounds and his collar has slipped off. He entered a campground at that time and was heading back to where he knew food would be found. Unfortunately, he was shot and killed.

This current big bear has ramped up his bad behavior to such a level it is very concerning, said Sielsch.

"I want this to be a wake-up call to everybody," said Sielsch. "I love the bears as much as anyone. But, the safety and wellbeing of my community will always come first."

"CDFW and NDOW (Nevada Department of Wildlife) don't want to kill bears, they don't just manage wildlife, they also protect the people as it pertains to wildlife issues," he added.

There should always be mitigation efforts first, before depredation. Holley said there have been problems with other bears in Tahoe but they are still trying to educate people to correct those issues before they get worse.

Since bears are opportunistic, take away the opportunities. They are adapted to take food if nothing stops them, and will keep coming back if nothing changes.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result" - Albert Einstein