Game Warden Report Blames Police for Bear’s Shooting

State game wardens, previously blamed by Azusa police in the May 20 shooting death of a California black bear, contend that it was the police who were eager to shoot an obviously drugged and groggy animal.

Azusa police failed to shout and honk their horns when asked to do so by game wardens, and repeated several times their intention to shoot the animal even when it was within the safety zone and growing groggy from tranquilizer darts, said a May 31 report on the incident by the California Department of Fish and Game.

The release of the report, obtained by animal activists, followed the creation Monday night of an Azusa city wildlife commission.

Pressured by those protesting what they called the unnecessary killing of the 356-pound animal that wandered onto city streets, the Azusa City Council on Monday night voted to set up a Wildlife Response Policy Commission.

The commission is to set guidelines on handling forays by wild animals into the city, which abuts the foothills of Angeles National Forest. It is to be made up of city officials, Police Department representatives, animal activists and representatives of various wildlife organizations.

City Administrator Henry Garcia said he is trying to schedule the first meeting this month and is hoping to have a model policy in place within a month of that meeting. Commission members also will discuss the possibility of establishing an 800 number or 24-hour hot line for these kinds of situations, he said.

The bear was killed by 14 shots fired by four police officers after it left a containment area set up by police.

In their report, Azusa police said wildlife officials were slow to respond, lacked the proper equipment and made a mistake by using two tranquilizer darts with smaller doses instead of one larger dose.

Although the Fish and Game report appeared to contradict the police version of events, Azusa police said the state report is accurate.

“I know there was conflict (between game wardens and police),” said Azusa Police Capt. John Broderick. “We had two different agencies looking at it from two different perspectives. Fish and Game were looking to save the bear. Police wanted to save the bear but also had to consider community safety.”

The Fish and Game report admitted that game wardens lacked a needle long enough to fill the tranquilizer darts, but said the equipment was later obtained and the darts were emptied into the bear. It defended the decision to use two darts and portrayed police officers as uncooperative and eager to shoot when they could have shooed the bear into a cul de sac for capture.

One game warden yelled at officers not to shoot the animal and another was told to get out of the line of fire when he stood between a rifle-toting officer and the bear, according to the report.