Tahoe Bear Problem Crosses State Lines

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)  -- After an unprecedented number of bear problems in the Tahoe Basin last year, wildlife officials in California and Nevada are sharing personnel, databases and other resources in a joint effort to reduce the number of conflicts with humans this year.

California alone fielded more than a thousand calls last year about nuisance bears about nuisance bears partly because of the Tahoe Basin fire and the drought that led up to it, according to Steve Matarano, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game.

Matarano said that made human sources of food such as unprotected garbage containers especially attractive to the roughly 800 bears that call the Tahoe Basin home. “They don’t really know the state line and we share a lot of bears, a lot of the bear problems.”

Nevada and California have hired two additional biologists to serve the region. They are charged with helping game officials respond to calls about problems, and to leading education efforts for seasonal and year-round residents.

“Residents need to be aware that they’re a big part of the problem and when they allow bears to have a very ready food source, then it just increases the problem,” Matarano said.

In one extreme case last year, a bear managed to get inside a house and start a fire as it foraged through the residence, Matarano said. The animal escaped unharmed, but the empty house was not so fortunate.