black bears

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – Spring is in full swing in the Tahoe Basin and Tahoe black bears are searching for food. Intentional or unintentional feeding of bears results in unwanted bear behaviors, increased human-bear conflicts, and public safety issues as well as fines and possible jail time for violators. Each year, local law enforcement and state wildlife officers respond to hundreds of calls in which bears may pose a public safety threat or are damaging property. In some cases, the bear must be euthanized.

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – Lake Tahoe natural resource and law enforcement agencies remind residents and visitors to practice proper food storage and trash disposal at all times while in bear country. Intentional or unintentional feeding of bears can result in unwanted bear behaviors, increased human-bear conflicts, and public safety issues, as well as fines and possible jail time for violators. Each year law enforcement and state wildlife officers respond to hundreds of calls in which bears may pose a public safety threat or are damaging property. In some cases, the bear must be euthanized.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - The four bear cubs who have been spending the winter at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (LTWC) will soon be heading back into the wild.

Last summer, the nonprofit organization in South Lake Tahoe lost two of their six cubs suddenly to a virus called Canine Adenovirus. This came as a shock to the group who has rehabilitated animals from not only Lake Tahoe, but from around the state since forming forty years ago in 1978.

Conservation efforts are seeing the return of black bears into the Great Basin of Nevada, an area that hasn't seen the mammal for over 80 years according to a study released this week by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW), and the University of Nevada-Reno (UNR).

Prior to this study, most of the state's black bears could be found around Lake Tahoe and the Pine Nut Mountains after being forced from the Great Basin by unregulated hunting and conflicts with domestic livestock.

After a challenging winter and spring in the Lake Tahoe Basin, the summer season is upon us. Agencies around Lake Tahoe (U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, California State Parks, California and Nevada Departments of Wildlife) are reminding residents and visitors to practice proper food storage and trash disposal when living in, or visiting, bear country.

Dear Henry,

I’m a local and have noticed the bears are back! I’ve already seen cubs and a lot more sightings in my neighborhood when compared to last year. Could you cover some bear safety tips in your article for those who are new to area or visiting in one of the many vacation homes?

Thanks,
Ron

Thanks Ron,

Are some bears just born to be bad? Or do they learn from other bears that raid garbage cans, break into cars and homes and eventually have to be killed because they’ve lost their fear of humans?

Scientists have researched this classic debate over “nature” and “nurture” among black bears for decades, from Yosemite National Park in the Sierra to central Florida and the Adirondacks in upstate New York.

As the drought begins to impact wildlife, there is concern that California black bears are breaking into Tahoe homes because the lack of rain is contributing to a lack of food.

Now some wildlife activists want to lure those bears away from neighborhoods by feeding them where they live -- in the woods -- even though that practice is illegal.

The activists argue that the drastic action will help the bears survive.

Last year, a government shut down caused the annual South Lake Tahoe festival that honors the Kokanee Salmon to be canceled, though nobody told the fish. Highway 89 was lined with cars since people had to walk in to view the fish spawning as well as enjoying fall foliage.

It's not a record breaking year for bear cubs at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, yet. Two more cubs were brought to the care facility on July 9 from the Paradise, California area, bringing the total of cubs now at LTWC to eight.

The new cubs are named Paradise 1 and Paradise 2, as with all of the other cubs they take on the names from the area they were living. As of today they have these two, along with Bieber 1 and 2, Conway 1 and 2, Meyers and Tahoe who was named before knowing that she came from the Northern California coastal area.

Two Sierra Nevada black bears, a mother and her cub, were released in the foothills in Douglas County near Kingsbury Grade Thursday night after being caught by Nevada Division of Wildlife officials earlier that morning.

Biologists anticipating serious problems with black bears raiding garbage and breaking into homes due to lack of food because of drought say the situation has been slow to develop at Lake Tahoe and along the Sierra front but that activity is now picking up in some areas.
The Nevada Department of Wildlife has received about 120 bear complaints thus far in 2012, according to bear biologist Carl Lackey.
While the year is shaping up to be a bit busier than 2011, it’s nothing compared to what Lackey originally expected in the wake of a remarkably dry winter.

Black bears are a large part of what defines Tahoe, but they can become a source of controversy as well. Bear break-ins are becoming commonplace and may result in a bear's demise. California state ...

Hobart Reservoir, a small, high-mountain reservoir, located at an elevation of 7,600 feet in the mountains between Carson City and Lake Tahoe, will open for the 2012 fishing season on May 1.
Because of its high elevation and location, this reservoir is normally covered with ice, and surrounded by deep snow drifts, when it opens on May 01.
However, this year is entirely different, ice and snow-wise. It will remain open to fishing through September 30.

Nevada’s second bear-hunting season would be shorter and no hunting allowed within the Lake Tahoe Basin under new regulations proposed by Nevada wildlife officials.
The proposal will be considered early next month in Las Vegas as the Nevada Wildlife Commission reviews hunting season regulations proposed for black bears and all other big-game animals. Go here for the Reno Gazette-Journal story by Jeff DeLong.

Forty years after being hunted to near-extinction in many parts of the U.S., black bears have become so plentiful that they are causing trouble for their human neighbors—ripping open camping tents in Colorado, attacking dogs in New Jersey, even breaking into a home in Florida to nab a birthday cake from the kitchen counter. Bear populations have surged so much that several states, including Nevada, Oklahoma and New Jersey, have started or expanded bear hunting seasons.