YOGI KILLERS: Outrage as California officials plan to trap and kill famous 500lb black bear
California wildlife authorities are facing complaints from residents of Lake Tahoe about a 500-pound black bear named Yogi. The bear has caused over 150 calls to law enforcement and wildlife personnel in the area recently. Wildlife officials claim the bear has caused "extensive property damage" and "forcefully entered several homes", but despite multiple attempts to contain him by setting traps, they have failed.
"The trapping activity is a measure of last resort to capture and euthanize a specific and what we call a severely habituated or human-food conditioned black bear. For months – and despite hazing and other mitigation efforts, the target bear has caused extensive property damage and forcefully entered several homes – including occupied homes – in and near the Tahoe Keys," Peter Tira from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife told KCRA 3.
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"This one individual bear has been linked to property damage at 38 different properties at least. We have DNA samples to make sure only the targeted bear is captured," Tira explained. The decision to euthanize the bear has raised controversy from local bear activists groups.
The Bear League, a non-profit organization based in the Lake Tahoe basin, posted an image with the caption, "Bear Trap set up in South Lake Tahoe.... New out of town owners left food in the garage with a wooden door. Neighbors told them the bears would break the door to get inside. Owner's were not willing to make changes. Bear came back, got into the garage again. Rather than fixing the problem the owners called for a trap. It arrived today. The neighbors are furious..."
Another post read, "There is a disturbing mentality arriving in Tahoe in the last couple of years... A Bear's life isn't worth much to these kind of people... Kill the bear rather than act responsibly in Bear Country. We wonder why the DFW is going along with this idiocy. How does this make sense??"
The activist group also posted an image of people protesting against the traps by sprat painting 'Bear Killer' on the traps. "A picture is worth a thousand words. Tahoe People Rally against the DFW's intentions to kill a bear in the Keys," the caption of the post read.
Bear League's Executive Director Ann Bryant feels that the bear does not have to die and that other options are on the table. "The Bear League reached out to the director of an excellent out-of-state wildlife sanctuary who agreed he has room and would be very willing to give this bear a permanent home. We notified [The California Department of Fish and Wildlife] on Tuesday morning asking that this option be seriously considered rather than killing the bear. [They] immediately responded to us stating they will coordinate internally and get back to us," said Bryant.
The Bear League has offered to pay all expenses so the financial burden will not be on the Department of Fish and Wildlife, or the public. "The facility in Colorado does seem willing to take the bear. However, a black bear cannot be imported into the state of Colorado without permits and approval from Colorado Parks and Wildlife," added Tira.
"The California Department of Wildlife has recently transferred animals to the Colorado facility before, but they required documents that the animals were captive-born. While euthanasia remains a last resort for the department, officials are currently evaluating the possibility of relocating the bear when captured. So far, no viable placement location has been identified," reports KCRA 3.
