SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – A bear trap that was placed in the Tahoe Keys neighborhood by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW) several days ago has been removed. The trap was placed there to try and catch sow #753, whose DNA has been linked to at least 12 home break-ins in the Tahoe Keys, and had been hazed from five homes this spring.

She is now teaching her cubs the same behaviors she and her siblings learned, and as did her mother and grandmother, who was famously known as “Hank the Tank” (aka Henrietta).

According to CDFW, #753 recently broke into a locked home and spent two days inside creating a large mess. The homeowner asked for a depredation permit. They were not issued one, but CDFW put out the trap to try and catch her. Most likely, she would have been euthanized and her cub taken to a rehabilitation center in California

The Tahoe Keys are a central location for bears, but it is not necessarily due to anything the homeowners there have done; it’s more because the area is surrounded by their natural homes in marshes, meadows, and near trees. Bears have broken through padlocked doors and are not normally entering through anything left open.

No. 753. her mother #182, and siblings #180 and #215 are no strangers to the Keys area from SR89 to Highland Woods. Currently, DNA places all of the conflict bears in that area from one family, and they are all females. The moms teach bad behaviors and pass on how they learned to forage in neighborhoods and not in the wild, and the next generation will do the same. If a cub can be removed from a sow, they can go into a rehabilitation facility and learn non-conflict activities instead of perpetuating the problem. While this isn’t ideal, it could be the only way to break the cycle.

CDFW will continue to monitor the bears. They said they were asked by the Tahoe Keys community to help them with #753.

Every Lake Tahoe neighborhood with apartment houses and businesses with dumpsters is a bigger offender than the Keys in making food and trash available for bears in unlocked containers.

Bears go through deadbolted front doors, as well as the easier entry points like open windows and unlocked doors.

The Tahoe Interagency Bear Team (TIBT) is comprised of several agencies around Lake Tahoe who work together and use science to focus on bear education, outreach, and implementing bear management practices to ensure the well-being of both bears and humans. The TIBT emphasizes the importance of respecting bears and their natural behaviors, encouraging the public to secure attractants like garbage and pet food to prevent bears from becoming habituated to human presence.

The only thing that will keep bears from needing to be trapped, and killed is to break the cycle – stop giving them food, as it will never be achieved until this happens.

“The safety of the community is our priority,” said CDFW PIO Peter Tira.

For more information on keeping Tahoe bears wild and being “bear-wise,” visit https://www.tahoebears.org/.