Bear Naked Truth

The "Kings Beach Bear's" GPS tracking collar as biologists found it this past spring on the forest floor. CDFW photo by Mark Abraham.

When California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) biologists recovered a GPS tracking collar deep within the Stanislaus National Forest in April, they suspected that was the final chapter in the saga of the “Kings Beach Bear.”

Also known as the “Safeway Bear” or the “Chevron Bear,” the big, male black bear made headlines in 2020 (YouTube) by entering local business on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore – including a Safeway and Chevron convenience store – rummaging for food and crashing Kings Beach get-togethers, helping itself to birthday cake and other treats and prompting widespread concern.

CDFW trapped the problem bear in September 2020, affixed identifying ear tags – a metal tag in its left ear numbered 1217 and a plastic orange tag in its right ear numbered 1274 – along with the GPS tracking collar and ultimately released the bear into remote wild habitat in El Dorado County.

With the bear’s tracking collar recovered last spring – with no sign or evidence of the bear otherwise – two potential outcomes were discussed. In a best-case scenario, the bear successfully transitioned to a natural diet and life in the wild, losing winter weight that allowed the GPS collar to come free. In a worse-case scenario, the old bear – estimated at more than 15 years old – was unable to adjust, lost weight and died.

The ultimate fate of the Kings Beach Bear proved much more tragic and traumatic.

In early August, a CDFW biologist and wildlife officer responded to calls of a large black bear shot and killed at a campground in Alpine County near Hermit Valley.

A large family with many small children was camping in the area when a large black bear approached their campsite repeatedly during the early evening and late hours of the night. Multiple attempts to haze the bear and shoo it away proved unsuccessful.

The campsite was clean and the family had properly stored and secured their food and garbage. Fearing for its safety, the family shot and killed the bear when it approached their campsite yet again – and reported the shooting to officials. The family was distraught when CDFW showed up to investigate.

At the scene, CDFW officials saw the 1274 orange tag in the bear’s right ear, identifying it unmistakably as the Kings Beach Bear. The bear – once weighing more than 500 pounds – was a shell of its former self, completely emaciated, its teeth rotten.

As one CDFW biologist later said, “Ultimately, the actions of the shooter was the most humane outcome for this bear.”

CDFW wildlife officers ruled the shooting justified. And CDFW biologists now have more empirical evidence and a rather traumatic case study about the ability of human food-conditioned bears to successfully transition to life in the wild.

For tips and best practices to keep Tahoe’s bears from becoming accustomed and dependent on human food sources, visit Keep Tahoe Bears Wild. Additional information and resources are available at CDFW’s Keep Me Wild: Black Bear webpage.

The "Kings Beach Bear's" GPS tracking collar as biologists found it this spring on the forest floor. CDFW photo by Mark Abraham.

In wildlife work, happy endings, feel-good stories and grand conclusions can be elusive.

Such is the case with the “Kings Beach Bear,” the big black bear that made national news in 2020 by entering local businesses on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore in search of food and crashing Kings Beach get-togethers, sending partygoers fleeing and helping itself to birthday cake and other treats. In the end, researchers may never know the ultimate fate of the animal also known as the “Safeway Bear” or the “Chevron Bear” for the Tahoe businesses it so brazenly frequented.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) scientists recovered the bear’s GPS tracking collar April 6 deep within the Stanislaus National Forest, near Beardsley Reservoir in Tuolumne County. The bear’s collar was completely intact, clasped closed and lying on the forest floor about 27 air miles southwest of CDFW’s Leek Springs Ecological Reserve in El Dorado County, where the bear was originally released Sept. 6, 2020.

“The collar had been sending satellite signals from the same location since January, but because of the snowpack, we couldn’t access it until April,” said Shelly Blair, CDFW’s unit wildlife biologist for Alpine and El Dorado counties. “We think the bear slipped the collar months before we could get to it. Originally, we thought the bear was denning in that location, but the site where we recovered the collar did not have any denning areas that we could find.”

Earlier collar signals showed the bear made a successful crossing of Highway 88 and passed through the Mokelumne River drainage above Salt Springs Reservoir into Amador County in October.

While bear scat and bear prints were found near the collar recovery site, no carcass or other evidence turned up indicating the current state of the bear. CDFW scientists suspect the collar – a modified, refurbished elk tracking collar – came free as the bear lost winter weight in the wild – removed from a diet of human food and garbage around Lake Tahoe.

CDFW trapped the Kings Beach bear that first week in September 2020. A veterinary exam revealed an old – more than 15 years old – male bear weighing a whopping 512 pounds with bad teeth and a poorly healed injury on its left hind foot. Due to its old age and lack of available space, placement in a permanent wildlife facility or zoo was not an option. The bear was taken to a large expanse of wild habitat on CDFW property in El Dorado County and released. In addition to a GPS tracking collar, the bear was outfitted with two identifying ear tags – a metal tag in its left ear numbered 1217 and a plastic orange tag in its right ear numbered 1274.

Although the bear’s whereabouts are unknown, CDFW does know that the bear stayed in the wild – for a few months at least before shedding its tracking collar. As far as CDFW is aware, the old bear has never returned to Lake Tahoe's North Shore where it caused such a stir last year and earned its celebrity status.

Surely you remember the Kings Beach bear? You might recall him better as the "Safeway bear" or the "Chevron bear" or perhaps even the "birthday cake bear."

Throughout late August and early September, a black bear was caught on camera multiple times entering local businesses (Video) in the Kings Beach community on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore to take food. These videos made national news as the bear displayed no fear of people and disregarded attempts to shoo it out of the stores. Additionally, the bear was photographed crashing a family gathering and eating a birthday cake.

The bear was identified by the partial, unreadable tag in its left ear affixed many years ago along with DNA analysis. DNA collected from the scenes of the multiple business break-ins along with the same physical description indicated the same bear was responsible for each event.

The recent behavior of the bear classified it as a “habituated bear” under the CDFW’s bear policy. Habituated bears show no overt reactions to people as a result of repeated exposure with no negative consequences. Because the bear was hazed multiple times with no resulting changes to its behavior or response to humans, CDFW determined a different strategy was required.

CDFW conducted a trapping effort in early September and quickly captured a bear matching the physical description from these numerous conflicts. The bear was taken to CDFW’s Wildlife Investigations Lab near Sacramento for a thorough health and wellness evaluation by CDFW veterinarians. DNA samples also were taken to CDFW’s Wildlife Forensics Lab and confirmed that the bear’s DNA matched that gathered at the Kings Beach incidents.

The health and wellness evaluation revealed an old – more than 16 years old – male bear with a poorly healed injury on its left hind foot. Due to the advanced age of the bear and lack of available space, placement in a permanent wildlife facility or zoo was not an option. To keep tabs on the bear and help prevent any future conflicts, CDFW affixed a GPS tracking collar on the bear and released it in a large expanse of wild, suitable bear habitat, where the bear remains today. CDFW continues to monitor the bear’s whereabouts to evaluate his return to the wild.

VIDEO: The Kings Beach bear is released into wild habitat while being hazed by bean bags.