Bear Naked Truth

Goings-on with black bears in the Tahoe Basin and beyond

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    A Lake Tahoe Basin black bear holds a freshly caught kokanee salmon in its mouth.

    The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has been alerted to flyers posted recently in the Lake Tahoe Basin encouraging people to feed bears and allow them to access garbage in order “to survive.” This is false and extremely harmful misinformation that is detrimental for bears.

    Bears are perfectly capable of surviving on their own and far better off without any human handouts. By intentionally feeding bears, people are quickly conditioning those bears to associate humans and homes as food sources. Bears baited by left-out food and garbage are conditioned to cross the boundary of safe behavior by approaching people, cars, houses, etc., to seek out that food reward. This changes a bear’s natural behaviors and greatly increases the potential for conflict.

    It’s not possible for communities in bear country to coexist with bears unless people respect boundaries with bears and other wildlife. This includes not feeding wildlife, keeping garbage and other attractants away from bears and wildlife and educating oneself on all the best practices when living in or visiting bear country.

    Living in bear country is a great privilege that comes with responsibilities. So please take the time to check out the online resources below to inform yourself and help others be part of the solution.

    Thank you for your help in keeping Tahoe bears wild.

    Online Black Bear Resources:

    Photo courtesy of the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

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    Media Contact:
    Peter Tira, CDFW Communications, (916) 215-3858

    Categories:   Human Wildlife Conflict, South Lake Tahoe
    A young black bear with a skin condition receives veterinary treatment from CDFW.

    Olive as a young bear in a fight for her life received intensive veterinary care from CDFW wildlife veterinarians to alleviate a skin condition that left her mostly hairless and unable to return to the wild. CDFW photo.

    It was something of a soft launch in the spring of 2021 when the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) placed a young, orphaned, female black bear with a skin condition with the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary in Sacramento County.

    The zoo had lost its popular 25-year-old black bear, “Marty,” to old age and had space to accept another bear. Currently, the zoo also has another black bear resident, “Henry,” a massive, 647-pound male that also arrived from CDFW as an orphan in 2003.

    The small female bear with a chronic and unsightly skin condition that caused her to lose most of her fur was quietly welcomed into the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary without fanfare or public notice.

    Not all wild bears, even young ones, transition well to life in captivity. Those arriving with chronic medical conditions can be especially problematic, requiring a disproportionate amount of veterinary attention and resources for zoos and other animal sanctuaries. As these entities typically operate as nonprofits, they are often dependent on outside fundraising to meet expenses and tend to be on very tight budgets.

    The prognosis for the “hairless bear” was not optimistic when CDFW recovered the sick yearling from the west shore of Lake Tahoe in April of 2021. The bear was in very poor shape. Bears with such extensive medical problems often have underlying issues and almost never recover to the point where they can make it on their own in the wild, even with medical intervention.

    After delivery to CDFW’s Wildlife Health Lab (WHL) in Rancho Cordova, wildlife veterinarians went to work right away. A full veterinary exam, blood work, X-rays and skin tests were completed. The bear had very thickened skin with crusts all over. Tests confirmed CDFW’s initial suspicions of a severe, chronic skin infection known as a Trychophyton fungal infection. Based on WHL’s previous experience with similar cases and consultations with veterinary specialists, a battery of intensive treatments commenced, including weekly clinical baths, a suite of antimicrobial drugs, a carefully constructed diet and heaters to help the hairless bear maintain body temperature during the cold nights.

    WHL’s experience with similar bears has been that because of the long-term treatments required, the bears can become “habituated,” which means they lose their natural fear of humans and can associate humans with food. Physically, there’s also the potential for irreversible damage to the bear’s hair follicles as a result of the skin condition. In either case, it means these bears cannot be released back to the wild.

    CDFW explored placement options for the bear pending successful treatment of the skin infection and found a willing taker in the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary.

    The bear was transferred on May 25, 2021, weighing just 80 pounds. She was quarantined within the zoo’s bear exhibit for another six months – kept out of the public display and separated from the massive Henry until she became more comfortable with zookeepers and the routine at the zoo.

    “She went out on exhibit in mid-November 2021 after she was more comfortable with groups of people,” said Jocelyn Smeltzer, manager of the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary. “We let her take her time and show us when she was ready to go out on exhibit. I’m glad we gave her the time she needed to settle in because she has been doing very well on exhibit ever since.”

    So well, in fact, that the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary felt confident and comfortable to publicly announce on its website and related social medial channels the bear’s official introduction this past New Year’s Day.

    Today, the 2-year-old female bear, which the zoo has named “Olive,” weighs a healthy 195 pounds and is still growing. She lives adjacent to – but still physically separated – from Henry. There are no immediate plans to unite the two for safety reasons given their size differences but sharing an exhibit with Henry or future zoo bears remains a possibility if the bears can demonstrate they will get along.

    Olive’s fur has grown back to varying degrees. And while her coat may never be as full and thick as her counterparts in the wild, nobody is likely to call Olive the “hairless bear” again.

    “The Folsom Zoo has been a wonderful partner over the years, providing a great home for a number of bears such as Olive that are not able to return to the wild,” said Deana Clifford, CDFW’s senior wildlife veterinarian. “As wildlife veterinarians, our top priority always is to return the animals in our care back to the wild. When that’s not possible due to medical reasons or other issues, we work to find the best possible placement options where these animals can live out their lives with the care and attention they deserve and the ongoing veterinary support they often need.”

    Olive, a light-colored black bear, looks out from her enclosure at the Folsom Zoo Sanctuary in Sacramento County.
    Olive makes her public debut at the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary in 2021. Photo courtesy of the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary.

    Olive, a black bear housed at the Folsom Zoo Sanctuary in Sacramento County, lives in a rich enclosure with trees and other natural surroundings.
    Olive lives in a rich enclosure with natural features such as tree limbs to climb. Photo courtesy of the Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary.

    Categories:   Disease

    Now that the snow has sufficiently melted and spring has sprung, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has resumed Trap-Tag-Haze efforts in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

    Since 2017, CDFW has caught, tagged, collected DNA and released 36 bears as part of its Trap-Tag-Haze bear research and management efforts in the Basin.

    This spring, CDFW will focus initially on the South Lake Tahoe area, where a few different bears have broken into homes since the summer of 2021. Although reports have slowed, these bears have caused significant property damage throughout the neighborhood known as the Tahoe Keys.

    If the large bear that recently garnered significant media attention is trapped, it will be evaluated by CDFW veterinarians for release into the wild. A release site in appropriate bear habitat has already been identified that should provide the bear plenty of habitat to transition to wild bear behaviors. The bear will be monitored with a satellite tracking collar that will help determine if the management effort is effective.

    All other bears captured will be ear-tagged and hazed upon release (loudly chased to provide a negative association with humans and habituated behavior).

    DNA evidence collected through Trap-Tag-Haze efforts already has shown interesting family relatedness among bears displaying similar activity. In other words, mother bears are likely teaching negative and nuisance behaviors to their offspring.

    Some monitored bears have successfully acclimated to wild habitats outside of town while others have returned and continued to exhibit habituated behaviors, which means associating people, homes, cars, campgrounds, coolers and the like as sources of food.

    Following the South Lake Tahoe Trap-Tag-Haze efforts, CDFW will move the operation to the western and northern sides of the Basin. The video below further explains CDFW’s innovative Trap-Tag-Haze program.

    Categories:   Research, South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Keys

    Office of Communications, Education and Outreach
    P.O. Box 944209, Sacramento, CA 94244-2090
    (916) 322-8911