Most black bears in the wild will avoid people unless a person gets between a mama bear and her cubs or if the bear feels threatened somehow. It seems over the past couple of decades at least the black bears in South Lake Tahoe, CA are not as afraid of humans as they should. They have learned that humans throw away a lot of food scraps from their homes and businesses. The scraps are placed in easily accessible garbage bins. Some bears have also learned to open windows and doors. This can definitely be a problem for both the bear and the human it may encounter.
This episode of BeProvided Conservation Radio discusses the urbanization of black bears in the South Lake Tahoe area. My guests are, Lori Howell Thompson author of the newly published book, Living in Harmony with the Wildlife in Lake Tahoe and Toogee Sielsch, black bear expert in Lake Tahoe.
Here is the audio, just click play to hear the interview!
Their new book is a great resource for everyone living in and visiting gLake Tahoe. It is educational as it teaches us why these bears became so urbanized and offers tips o now people and bears can safely coexist with each other without harm to human or bear.
You can buy a copy of the book, Living in Harmony with the Wildlife of Lake Tahoe at Lori's website, www.inawritersmind.com. You can learn more about Toogee and follow his work on Instagram and Facebook under the name Tahoe Toogee.
As always, thank you again for listening. Enjoy the episode. If you like what you hear and find it informative and useful, please share and/or leave a comment to let us know how we are doing.
From Randy Sparks:
Why doesn't Tahoe area have a bear unit like Yosemite? In Yosemite many bears are collared and all the bears are monitored, taken care of and not habituated to humans.