Nevada wildlife wardens release Jack's Valley black bear captured Wednesday
Submitted by editor on Thu, 04/09/2015 - 2:07pm
A black bear captured Wednesday morning in Jack’s Valley south of Carson City has been safely released back in to the wild near the area where it was trapped. The bear was seen as a potential trouble bear because of its interest in the livestock in the area.
In a whirlwind 24-hour period, the 350-pound male bear was trapped, tranquilized, fitted with ear tags, a satellite collar, a micro-chip and a tattoo. After sleeping off the tranquilizer induced hangover, it was safely released back in to the wild Thursday morning.
At the release, in a rural area of Douglas County in Jack’s Valley, the bear was shot in the rear with a rubber slug and chased and treed by Karelian bear dogs in a process called aversive conditioning by Nevada Department of Wildlife biologists.
“We got to this bear early during its conflict behavior and we have a chance of keeping him alive and wild with aversive conditioning,” said wildlife biologist Carl Lackey. “Without early intervention in the bear’s conflict behavior, this bear could have become a dangerous bear, perhaps killing livestock or breaking in to dwellings.”
It is expected to be a busy year for NDOW biologists and game wardens as bears expand their search for food over a drought-stricken landscape.
Persons needing to report nuisance bear activity can call the NDOW’s Bear Hotline telephone number at (775) 688-BEAR (2327). For information on living with bears persons can go to www.ndow.org and find the ”Bear Logic” page on the web.
Aversive Conditioning: How it Works
Lackey describes aversive conditioning like this: “Once we have the bear in the trap and right as we release it, we shoot rubber bullets at it and chase it with Karelian bear dogs, using all of the tools available to us in our aversion conditioning program. The goal is to make the bear uncomfortable and make it think twice before coming back to civilization.”
Lackey stated that on-site releases and the chance to use aversion conditioning on the bear gives NDOW a chance to “save” the bear from becoming a dangerous bear in the future. “When people who need help call us first, it gives us the chance to intervene right at the time when the bear first gets into trouble, when that happens we have a chance to alter its behavior.”
NDOW has saved nearly 400 bears using aversive conditioning treatment since the technique was first employed in the late 1990s. “The key to saving these bears is that we receive a phone call from the public right when the bear shows up in a neighborhood,” said Lackey. “When we’re allowed to do our job from the beginning, without interference from outside groups, we can save most bears.”
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