Letter: Bear League unhappy with DA's decision on bear shooting

Editor: On Tuesday, June 25, 2024, the El Dorado County District Attorney’s office issued a press release in which it announced it would not be pursuing criminal charges against a man who shot a bear cub in South Lake Tahoe over Memorial Day weekend. BEAR League previously called on the DA to conduct an investigation after representatives of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) closed the case by simply accepting the shooter’s version of the event.

While BEAR League is grateful that the DA conducted a follow-up examination of the event, the DA’s investigation was no better than the one conducted by CDFW. Rather than conducting its own independent investigation, the DA primarily relied on the incomplete investigation conducted by CDFW at the time of the event. The DA did not have access to the physical evidence from the event, like the bear cub or the rifle casings, forcing the DA to simply accept CDFW’s shoddy work as its own. Furthermore, the DA disregarded the eyewitness accounts of neighbors and others familiar with the shooter’s past incidents with bears. As a result, the DA’s conclusion that no crime
was committed was a foregone conclusion.

“Bears can’t growl, and a yearling cub like this one certainly would not enter a house and snarl or grunt at a dog,” said Ann Bryant, Executive Director of BEAR League. “Bears of this age are afraid of their own shadow. The DA investigator clearly knows nothing about bear behavior and simply accepted at face value what the shooter told him so the DA’s office could check a box and close the investigation. The investigator did not contact the BEAR League volunteers who responded to the scene, who would have provided additional facts and details of serious value to a legitimate investigation.”

Furthermore, the DA’s office contradicts itself in the press release. On one hand, the DA states that prior rumored incidents involving the shooter “were determined to be unfounded.” Then, in the very next sentence, the DA notes that a records check confirmed there were TWO prior contacts with the shooter, both of which involved the shooter reporting bear-related activity in his area. One of the prior incidents was reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, where the shooter said bears had ransacked his kitchen during the 2021 Caldor Fire evacuation. He told the reporter, “I think they’re a pest.”.

But, the DA’s report states that this incident took place on September 22, 2021, more than two weeks after the Caldor fire evacuation order was lifted. This inconsistency clearly shows that the DA was interested more in closing the case than determining what actually happened over Memorial Day weekend.

This begs the question of why the shooter left his door open when he had multiple prior incidents with bears at his home. As a long-time resident of the Tahoe Basin, the shooter knew better and could have done better by simply closing his back door when he knew a bear was sleeping in a tree nearby. Responsible Tahoe locals know that there are many humane approaches to avoiding negative interactions with bears, but the shooter instead decided to simply eliminate a “pest” and concoct a narrative that the bear cub “growled” at him. While the DA may have concluded that it cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooter committed a crime, BEAR League will work tirelessly to ensure that this unfortunate event does not repeat itself, whether by the specific individual who was investigated, or by others who may emulate his vigilante tactics.

BEAR League wishes to thank the nearly 3,000 people who signed BEAR League’s Change.org petition calling for a full investigation of this incident. While BEAR League is obviously unhappy with the outcome of the investigation, BEAR League believes that the DA’s investigation would not have taken place at all without the voices of the thousands of people who believe people can
and should live in harmony with bears.

- BEAR League