Hairy Problem Arises as Bear Population Grows

Faced with the prospect of an easy meal, some California black bears are capable of remarkable feats. The voracious omnivores can pop windows out of cars, break down doors and even, apparently, memorize garbage collection days.

“They want to consume as many calories as they can with the least amount of effort,” said Lorna Bernard, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Fish and Game. “When they stumble upon somebody’s cabin that has a barbecue out, to a bear that’s a gold mine.”

Although greasy paper bags, scraps of discarded food and sometimes even kitchen sponges and pantyhose are not part of their regular berry-and-termite diet, black bears are increasingly being spotted looking for meals in residential neighborhoods.

Partly, that is the result of a rising bear population. The number of California black bears has nearly tripled, to about 30,000, since the 1980s, said Doug Updike, a senior wildlife biologist with the Fish and Game Department.

As their population grows, the bears are moving beyond their normal terrain in Northern California into the Central Coast and Southern California, Updike said.

As the number of bears increases, so do their encounters with people. Hundreds of encounters are reported to Fish and Game annually, Updike said. Most are sightings, but others involve bears trespassing on private property.

And although it’s not in their nature to attack people -- at most they will swat at a person and then run away -- black bears can significantly damage homes, cars and other property, Updike said.

That’s when Fish and Game might issue a disgruntled landowner a depredation permit, giving permission for the bear’s elimination. As a result of 241 permits issued in 2002, 111 bears were put to death. So far, 48 permits have been issued this year, resulting in 24 bear deaths, Updike said.

Camilla Fox, national campaign director at the Animal Protection Institute, said conflicts could be avoided if people cleaned up after themselves. The organization, along with state and federal agencies, recently launched a campaign in the Lake Tahoe area to educate the public about proper food-storing practices to avoid bear encounters and, members hope, exterminations.

“The Animal Protection Institute feels it’s inappropriate to kill a bear that has essentially been lured in with easily accessible food,” she said.

Besides, there are ways of re-instilling fear of people in habituated bears, said Yosemite National Park Ranger Deb Schweizer. In late 1997 and 1998, bears frequented Yosemite campgrounds until rangers conditioned them to fear developed areas by shooting them with rubber bullets, she said.

“They learn very quickly that this sort of behavior happens in places where there are people,” she said.

The hazing technique, along with public education and the installation of lockers in which campers can store food, helped reduce bear incidents in the park from about 1,600 in 1998 to 81 so far this year, Schweizer said.