09-17-2007, 06:10 PM
The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) cautions people to be extra careful at this time of year to avoid causing conflicts with bears.
"This is the time of year when we expect bear problems to increase because natural food sources are temporarily scarce," said Doug Updike, DFG Statewide Bear Program Coordinator. "The berries have dried up and the acorns have yet to drop. Unfortunately, drought conditions have made the problem even worse this year."
As a result, hungry bears are roaming into neighborhoods to search through garbage, gardens and backyards for a quick meal, and causing headaches for many California residents, including those in the Lake Tahoe area. People need to be extra careful about leaving out food and other items that could attract a bear, such as garbage, fallen fruit, barbeque grills, and pet food. Encounters between bears and people have escalated in recent weeks, prompting renewed warnings to people who live in or plan to venture into bear habitat.
"If a 450-pound bear enters a cabin looking for the refrigerator at midnight it doesn't usually knock, it can rip the door right off its hinges," said Jason Holley, a DFG Wildlife Biologist assigned to the Lake Tahoe area. "Or if a bear wants to get at food left in a car, it doesn't politely open the door, it pries the door. A hungry bear can inflict thousands of dollars of damage in a manner of minutes."
In addition, if wild animals gain access to human food and garbage they become dependent on that food source, lose their natural fear of humans, and can become aggressive toward humans. Bear encounters with humans, although rare, are almost always caused by bears having access to human food.
Concerned residents are asking why DFG cannot provide supplemental food to get bears through this temporary food shortage.
"California and other states don't do it because it doesn't work, and it could create bigger problems next year." Updike said. "Bear reproduction is directly related to nutrition, when there is a lot of food available bears respond by producing more cubs. The best for the bears is to let the bear population size be dictated by the amount of natural food provided by their habitat. That's part of what being a wild animal is all about."
The most effective solution is prevention through public education. DFG's on-going education campaign, Keep Me Wild (www.keepmewild.org), encourages the public to keep human food away from bears and other wild animals. Further information on black bears can be found at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/news/issues/bear.html.
"This is the time of year when we expect bear problems to increase because natural food sources are temporarily scarce," said Doug Updike, DFG Statewide Bear Program Coordinator. "The berries have dried up and the acorns have yet to drop. Unfortunately, drought conditions have made the problem even worse this year."
As a result, hungry bears are roaming into neighborhoods to search through garbage, gardens and backyards for a quick meal, and causing headaches for many California residents, including those in the Lake Tahoe area. People need to be extra careful about leaving out food and other items that could attract a bear, such as garbage, fallen fruit, barbeque grills, and pet food. Encounters between bears and people have escalated in recent weeks, prompting renewed warnings to people who live in or plan to venture into bear habitat.
"If a 450-pound bear enters a cabin looking for the refrigerator at midnight it doesn't usually knock, it can rip the door right off its hinges," said Jason Holley, a DFG Wildlife Biologist assigned to the Lake Tahoe area. "Or if a bear wants to get at food left in a car, it doesn't politely open the door, it pries the door. A hungry bear can inflict thousands of dollars of damage in a manner of minutes."
In addition, if wild animals gain access to human food and garbage they become dependent on that food source, lose their natural fear of humans, and can become aggressive toward humans. Bear encounters with humans, although rare, are almost always caused by bears having access to human food.
Concerned residents are asking why DFG cannot provide supplemental food to get bears through this temporary food shortage.
"California and other states don't do it because it doesn't work, and it could create bigger problems next year." Updike said. "Bear reproduction is directly related to nutrition, when there is a lot of food available bears respond by producing more cubs. The best for the bears is to let the bear population size be dictated by the amount of natural food provided by their habitat. That's part of what being a wild animal is all about."
The most effective solution is prevention through public education. DFG's on-going education campaign, Keep Me Wild (www.keepmewild.org), encourages the public to keep human food away from bears and other wild animals. Further information on black bears can be found at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/news/issues/bear.html.