Over seven months, one bear in South Lake Tahoe broke into at least 28 homes. It smashed through front doors and garage doors, and police logged 102 separate responses to it.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) set traps for the animal in the Tahoe Keys neighborhood, calling it a “severely food-habituated bear” and a conflict bear under its 2022 Black Bear Policy. It is a male weighing roughly 500 pounds. Food-habituated, the agency explained, means the animal has lost its fear of people and links them with access to food.
The record
Hazing and other efforts to move the bear along did not work. CDFW documented 33 cases of extensive property damage. Merging its own data with local police reports, the agency counted 152 reports of conflict behavior from the one animal. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department mapped its bear responses from Aug. 18 through Nov. 4, 2021.
The bear is easy to spot: exceptionally large, with a dark coat and a lighter muzzle. CDFW also collected its DNA and built a profile, which the agency said allows 100 percent accurate identification.
What happens if it is caught
Other bears caught in the traps would be ear tagged, hazed away from human food and released in the nearest appropriate habitat, the agency said. For this one, CDFW said it was weighing placement, with euthanasia always the last option. Its policy sets requirements. Placement facilities must be accredited, hold the necessary state and federal permits, and meet CDFW’s standards. The policy also warns that adult bears “may be poor candidates for placement due to the chronic stress of adjusting to captivity after living in only wild conditions.” When the post was written, CDFW had found no facility that met the criteria.
The agency said a few simple actions could have avoided this outcome. Bears look for food mainly by scent, so CDFW asked residents and visitors to store food and garbage properly. It noted that the Lake Tahoe area has a healthy, dense bear population.
CDFW later revised its account. A February 24, 2022 post titled “DNA Evidence Prompts Revised Response to Tahoe Keys Bear Incidents” carries the updated information.
