In South Lake Tahoe, California, neighbors are both angry and upset after a man killed a bear cub that he said broke into his home on Memorial Day.
According to the Bear League, a non-profit for the welfare and protection of bears, the 75-pound cub had been only been standing near the open doorway to his home, when the man grabbed his gun and shot the cub twice as it ran back to the trees. The neighbor stated the bear had already started to leave before the shots were fired. The homeowner was then reported to have shot the cub a third time after it had fallen from the tree. The man then called 911 to report the shooting.
It was a conflicting report, however from the homeowner, who stated the bear had entered his living room, and even though he yelled at the bear and tried to scare it off, the bear did not leave in any timely manner.
Yesterday evening BEAR League received the news that the young bear who was shot and killed on Monday did not receive justice – the Department of Fish and Wildlife quickly decided not to press charges, citing ‘self-defense’. This was an 80-pound yearling bear who, according to witnesses, briefly approached the man’s open door, didn’t enter inside but was killed anyway as he turned to run away.
Bear League Facebook
This is a common time of the year to see bear cubs, and neighbors stated the homeowner should have been more patient and shooed the bear away from his house. Yearling cubs don’t know the rules of life with human neighbors at this time, and they have no idea where and where not to intrude.
Other neighbors had spotted the bear in the neighborhood and most recently in a nearby tree on Monday morning.
California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife officials stated the homeowner had been acting in self defense and was justified shooting and killing the cub.
Rulings such as this one only exacerbate Tahoe’s issues with human-bear conflict, by promoting unfounded fear and lethal tactics. If the man had asserted dominance by scaring the young bear off his property, standing his ground, yelling, and perhaps using a non-lethal method such as a paintball gun or throwing a pine-cone at him, the bear would have been given the chance to learn that he needs to respect human territory.
Bear League
Living in wooded areas where bears are extremely popular require residents to understand the bears, and how they all lived in the same areas now built out with homes, parks, children and pets.
The bear protection organization encourages everyone to contact the CADFW, Wildlife Commission, and the Governor and respectfully explain concerns regarding this issue. Not only is killing bears deeply unethical, but we know after more than a century of doing so that it simply does not solve the problem.
Rest in peace little guy.
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I grew up in bear country and we never needed to shoot anyone (human or animal). I just don’t buy the story.
A super soaker and bullhorn or airhorn work great in “shooing animals away”.
A young bear is exploring the environment’s and needs to learn to stay away from humans (and it’s not necessarily the best idea to shoot them). A better idea is to scare them away.
It doesn’t seem like this bear’s killer will ever be held responsible for this totally unnecessary death…….. and that’s the problem (& real shame). It shouldn’t be “shoot anything that moves near you, it’s ok”. Definitely don’t need any more wildlife shootings.