Caldor Fire will have rippling, lasting effect on Tahoe bear behavior for seasons to come
Submitted by editor on Tue, 03/29/2022 - 4:06pm
Spring bear activity around the Lake Tahoe Basin will increase at higher levels than normal due to displacement from the Caldor Fire, according to the public agency partnership Lake Tahoe Interagency Bear Team.
Generally, fire can be a revitalizing event for a forest, with downed logs providing great forage spots for hungry bears looking for insects such as termites and grubs.
Wild animals are typically resilient and able to adapt to fire and other environmental changes: It’s part of their nature. However, during last year’s Caldor Fire, some bears and other wildlife were forced to flee from the flames.
While some bears were hit by vehicles on highways, others may have traveled to the Lake Tahoe Basin for refuge, while many sheltered in large pockets of unburned forest or were temporarily displaced.
A Lake Tahoe Interagency Bear Team news release Monday was sent out as a reminder that the fire's path was destructive for wildlife, including bears who are now beginning to wake from winter hibernation.
The Lake Tahoe Interagency Bear Team is a partnership between the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California State Parks, Nevada Department of Wildlife, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and the USDA Forest Service.
During the Caldor Fire evacuation, when streets and homes were empty and no one was around to secure houses, vehicles, dumpsters, or other attractants, habituated bears in the Tahoe Basin — meaning those bears already comfortable around people or those bears that look to people, their homes, and cars for food — were left to roam neighborhoods freely with little resistance, according to the news release.
"These habituated bears suddenly had no humans yelling, making noise, chasing or hazing them, and no electric deterrents because of power outages," the news release states.
In the Tahoe Keys community, bears broke into garage doors, windows, and vehicles, causing some homeowners thousands of dollars in property damage. The lack of consequences during the evacuation period will have rippling and lasting effects on bear behavior for seasons to come.
"Because bears are so intelligent, once they learn something, it’s difficult to break their bad habits. For this reason, it’s extremely important to be proactive in preventing bad habits from forming in the first place," the Lake Tahoe Interagency Bear Team notes.
Due to the amount of damage bears caused to homes, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife last year conducted a Trap/Tag/Haze operation in South Lake Tahoe to provide relief to hard-hit areas, which allowed residents to begin repairs, replace doors, refrigerators, and other damaged items in order to move back into their homes.
Bears were marked and moved to nearby, unburned habitats in an attempt to interrupt the cycle of break-ins and food rewards that went unchecked during evacuations.
Once moved, these bears were hazed upon release with airhorns, paintball guns, and non-lethal rounds, to give the bears a negative human interaction that will hopefully prevent them from returning to the area. Not all these problem bears were caught and hazed, as evidenced by the continued presence of several bears that continued to break into homes in the Tahoe Keys area throughout the fall and winter months, according to the report.
One of the most newsworthy bears, "Hank the Tank," has, along with two other bears, have been responsible for home invasions in the South Lake Tahoe Keys area. The Department of Fish and Wildlife has not yet started its 2022 Trap-Tag-Haze program in the Tahoe Keys, but there are plans to move "Hank" from the area, the partnership states.
While what happened during the Caldor Fire evacuation couldn’t be prevented, homeowners, residents, and visitors can do their part to prevent or deter this kind of bear behavior in the future, especially as this mild winter turns to spring and bears begin to emerge from their dens in search of food, according to the partnership.
Below are steps everyone can take to help Tahoe bears live a wild but fruitful and healthy life:
— Businesses should require employees to keep dumpsters locked at all times!
— Use bear-resistant trash containers!
— Do not allow unsecured attractants such as bird feeders!
— Remember that feeding bears (or any wild animal) is against the law!
For more information on peacefully coexisting with bears, visit TahoeBears.org.
To report human-bear conflicts:
In California, contact the California Department of Fish and Wildlife at 916-358-2917 or report online using the Wildlife Incident Reporting (WIR) system at apps.wildlife.ca.gov/wir.
Non-emergency wildlife interactions in California State Parks can be reported to its public dispatch at (916) 358-1300.
In Nevada, contact the Nevada Department of Wildlife at 775-688-BEAR (2327).
If the issue is an immediate threat, call the local sheriff’s department or 911.
