Bear Naked Truth

Attention backpackers: Beginning today – July 18, 2022 – overnight visitors to the Desolation Wilderness are required to store their food and trash in a canister designed to prevent access by bears.

Those orders were signed recently by USDA forest supervisors at the Eldorado National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, the agencies tasked with management of Desolation Wilderness. The purpose is to protect both bears and visitors to Desolation Wilderness, a popular, 63,960-acre wilderness area located southwest of Lake Tahoe and north of Highway 50 in El Dorado County.

“In recent years, bears have become more aggressive in their search for food, relying on human sources rather than natural sources. This causes increased interactions between humans and bears and the possibility of bears becoming habituated to the presence of humans. A person who fights back or gets between the bear and food is risking bodily injury or death. In cases where a bear is known to threaten or intimidate visitors repeatedly, or cause injury, the bear may be euthanized,” stated the USDA Forest Service news release announcing the new requirement.

The Forest Service says backpackers at Lake Aloha, Gilmore Lake and other popular camping areas in Desolation Wilderness have lost as many as 10 “bear hangs” a night to bears in recent years. Visitors are left with no food. To continue their backpacking trips, many of these groups must hike out of the wilderness to get more food. A “bear hang” is typically a makeshift system of rope, cord, sacks or bags – sometimes including pulleys and carabiners – used to hang or suspend food in a tree to protect it from black bears as well as from rodents in the backcountry.

“Typical methods of food and trash storage are no longer effective as wildlife has grown accustomed to humans,” stated the news release. “Whistles, banging pots and pans, yelling, nothing is working. Bears have adapted to even the most experienced campers’ food hangs and brought them down.

“One of the principles of Leave No Trace is to respect wildlife. Considerate campers observe wildlife from a distance, store food securely and keep garbage and food scraps away from animals. A camper would be wise to check his or her tent for food in pockets, candy wrappers and the like.”

The USDA Forest Service notes that backpackers can both purchase or rent a bear canister at the Placerville Ranger Station in Camino when they get their permit. For more information on rentals, call (530) 647-5415. Backpackers can also purchase a canister at a recreational outlet. Most bear canisters sold at retail recreational stores are highly bear-resistant.

Backpackers who are not in compliance with the forest order are subject to citations and fines.

Frequently Asked Questions from the USDA Forest Service

What is a “canister designed to prevent access by bears"?

Hard-sided canisters are commercially produced and designed to prevent access by bears. Bear-resistant canisters and panniers are the most effective method of food storage for wilderness travelers. Throughout the region, use of bear-resistant canisters is strongly recommended. In Desolation Wilderness it is mandatory to store food and refuse in a canister designed to prevent access by bear as of July 18, 2022.

Other food storage options like “odor proof” bags, or chew resistant bags, while great in many places, are not effective in Desolation Wilderness.

Do day users need to carry a canister?

Typically, people not spending the night will not need to carry a canister. Think about whether you will be able to always stay within arms-reach of your food. If you plan to swim, or leave your pack behind while skiing or climbing, or some other situation, you must store your food in a canister.

Do I need a canister during the winter?

Yes, canisters are required year-round.

Can I hike with overnight equipment across Desolation Wilderness in a day and not carry a canister?

Please carry a bear canister. It is the right thing to do, especially around Lake Tahoe and in the Sierra Nevada. Your responsibility to protect bears does not end at the Desolation Wilderness boundary, nor do the problems associated with human-food habituated bears. Lake Tahoe is struggling with people poorly protecting their food from bears. Help be a part of the solution.

In some places, if you have overnight equipment such as a tent or sleeping bag, you must comply with overnight and bear canister regulations even if you hope not to sleep in the area. For now, this is not the case in Desolation Wilderness. We will caution you that the 26 miles of Pacific Crest Trail between Echo Lake and Richardson Lake are hard to do in a day and bears continue to seek out and are actively obtaining food from hikers north of the Desolation Wilderness boundary.

What needs to be stored in a canister?

Items that must be secured include food sealed in jars, cans or foil packs. Non-food items such as plastic bottles, water bottles, coffee mugs, pet food, empty cans, trash, wrappers, cosmetics, grocery bags, boxes and ice chests must also be secured. Do not leave these items in your car or tent. Bears will break in to obtain them.

How can I report a bear-related incident in Desolation Wilderness?

Visitors can report an incident by calling the Placerville Ranger Station at (530) 647-5415 or the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit at (530) 543-2600.

Map of documented bear responses from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department from Aug. 18 through Nov. 4, 2021. Map courtesy of South Lake Tahoe PD.

The following post was written with the best information CDFW had at the time. Since this post was published, new information has come to light regarding incidents in the Tahoe Keys neighborhood. Please see the February 24, 2022, post "DNA Evidence Prompts Revised Response to Tahoe Keys Bear Incidents" for the most updated information.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is conducting a special trapping effort for a specific male bear, weighing approximately 500 pounds, in the Tahoe Keys area of South Lake Tahoe. These traps represent official state business to capture a specific and “severely food-habituated bear” defined as a conflict bear under CDFW’s 2022 Black Bear Policy in California. Food-habituated means that the animal has lost its fear of people and is associating people with access to food.

For more than seven months, and despite intense hazing and other mitigation efforts, this bear has caused extensive property damage in 33 documented cases and forcefully entered at least 28 homes in and near the Tahoe Keys (see map above). This bear is extremely food-habituated and has used its immense size and strength to break in and through front doors and garage doors. There have been, at last count, 102 individual reports of local police responses to this bear, including multiple hazing events to discourage the bear from breaking into homes and seeking human food sources.

When combining CDFW data with information from local police agencies, CDFW has 152 reports of conflict behavior from this animal. This bear is readily identifiable due to its exceptionally large size and dark coat with lighter muzzle. Additionally, CDFW has collected the bear's DNA and created a DNA profile to allow for 100 percent accurate identification of the bear. All other bears captured will be ear tagged, hazed away from human food sources, and released by our wildlife professionals in the nearest appropriate habitat.

While the Lake Tahoe area has a healthy and dense bear population, euthanizing an animal is always our last option. CDFW is currently evaluating the possibility of placement of this bear when captured. As detailed in our recently updated Black Bear Policy in California, there are several requirements that must be met to consider placement of a wild adult black bear.

Placement of adult black bears can have significant negative consequences on their mental health and must be considered when evaluating placement options. To quote from our Black Bear Policy: “Adult bears may be poor candidates for placement due to the chronic stress of adjusting to captivity after living in only wild conditions." To be considered, placement facilities must be accredited, have necessary state and federal permits to receive animals, and meet CDFW's standards for quality of facilities. At the time of this post, CDFW has not identified a placement option for this bear that meets the criteria of the Black Bear Policy.

The outcome for this food-habituated bear could have been avoided with a few simple actions. Bears are primarily scent-driven when seeking food. As such, we ask again that everyone remain vigilant and act responsibly by properly storing food and garbage while living in – or visiting – bear habitat. 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 web page.

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.

A young male bear, one of the "South Shore Four" rehabbing at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care the past year after being orphaned as a cub, is sedated while being outfitted with identifying ear tags and a GPS tracking collar prior to release back into the wild in April. CDFW photo by Shelly Blair.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) licenses and partners with nearly 100 private wildlife rehabilitation facilities around the state that provide important care, shelter and veterinary services to injured, orphaned and other displaced wildlife of all kinds.

What happens to these animals upon their recovery and release back into the wild often remains a mystery. That’s true even at the only two rehabilitation facilities licensed in California to work with black bears: The San Diego Humane Society’s Ramona Campus in Southern California and Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care in South Lake Tahoe.

While the rehabilitated bears are almost always outfitted with an identifying ear tag or two prior to release, a feel-good video of the bears fleeing a portable trap on their way to freedom is often the last time biologists and wildlife rehabbers ever see them.

With a second chance at life in the wild, do the bears revel in their newfound freedom and stay as far away from people as possible and successfully transition to natural food sources? Or, after months of being cared for and closely watched at a rehabilitation facility, are the bears more comfortable around people, seeking out the nearest rural communities for the easy access to human food and garbage they can often supply? Do bears kept together in a rehabilitation facility and released together stay together in the wild? If so, for how long?

These are among the questions CDFW wildlife biologists are seeking answers to with the recent release of the “South Shore Four” – four young black bears, two males and two females, rehabbing together the past year at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care where they arrived as young-of-the-year cubs. Three of the four were orphaned when their two mothers were hit and killed by cars – one of the female cubs suffering a broken leg from a vehicle strike.

Fully recovered, weighing between 150 and 190 pounds each and old enough to survive on their own, the “South Shore Four” were released into a nearby national forest last month, two bears at a time. Three of the four cubs were fitted with GPS tracking collars that will alert biologists to their whereabouts four times a day if canopy cover allows. Biologists also receive a mortality signal 12 hours after no movement so that recovery and cause of death can be determined.

“We’re hoping to understand their movements directly after release, whether or not the ones that were released together stay together, the distances they travel and where they’re going,” said Shelly Blair, CDFW’s wildlife biologist for Alpine and El Dorado counties. “This is essential information to monitor the after-effects of almost a year in captivity and where they go. If they’re moving toward trouble – a campground or a community – we’ll be able to see that and get ahead of it if possible.”

GPS-tracking collars are an important research tool for wildlife biologists but also something of a precious commodity that cost between $800 and $2,000 each.

The collars are fastened around the bears’ necks with surgical tubing that will expand as they grow. After a few months of exposure to the elements, the tubing will deteriorate, and the collars will fall off to be recovered later. At that point, the South Shore Four’s research contributions will be short and likely complete, but will yield valuable information about the bear rehabilitation program and help improve CDFW's efforts to ensure the best possible outcome for these animals to be successful wild bears.

Video: Watch as two of the 'South Shore Four' are returned to the wild.

A female black bear takes in her surroundings from the safety of a pine tree after being trapped, tagged and hazed by state parks and wildlife staff last fall. CDFW photo by Travis VanZant.

As the Lake Tahoe Basin’s black bears emerge from their winter slow-down and slumber, campground managers, biologists, park rangers and wildlife officers hope to have a new tool at their disposal to help manage the human-bear conflicts certain to arise this spring and summer: a growing catalogue of Tahoe’s bear population.

Since the fall of 2019, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and California State Parks have teamed up to trap, tag and haze as many Tahoe bears as possible to identify individual bears, build a genetic database of the population, study its overall health, and whether related bears are passing down problem behaviors from one generation to the next. Eighteen bears have been trapped to date – four of those being recaptures. Genetic material is collected and each bear is outfitted with an identifying ear tag before release.

This May, CDFW will broaden the effort and team up with the U.S. Forest Service to trap, tag and haze additional bears within the Tahoe National Forest. The trapping takes place in short windows during the early spring and late fall off-seasons at Tahoe-area campgrounds. The bears are hazed – but not harmed – upon release to provide a negative human interaction and to see whether the experience will keep them away from campgrounds and people in the future.

In the following video, Shelly Blair, CDFW’s wildlife biologist for El Dorado and Alpine counties, and Sarinah Simons, California State Parks Sierra District human-bear management specialist, explain the innovative collaboration and scientific work during trapping efforts last fall.