Fish and Wildlife Euthanizes Tahoe Bear for Break-Ins

TAHOE – The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced last Thursday the euthanasia of a conflict bear in the Lake Tahoe basin. The bear had already been relocated by CDFW in 2021 after a series of home and vehicle break-ins. However, CDFW says the animal “quickly returned to the Lake Tahoe Basin and resumed its conflict behavior, including breaking into vehicles and businesses and charging toward campers to gain access to their food.”

Despite attempts to recapture the bear using traps, Bear 717 (as designated by an ear tag placed during its relocation) was “trap-shy,” and lethal action was approved due to increasingly concerning behavior. On July 7th, CDFW staff were notified by a concerned citizen that a bear was causing extensive damage to an unoccupied home. Responding to the report, CDFW staff identified Bear 717 by its ear tag, after which the animal was “lethally removed.” The bear’s skull was collected by CDFW, with the rest of the carcass allowed to decompose naturally.

CDFW prioritizes non-lethal tactics, but lethal action can become necessary when a bear grows dependent on human food and garbage. Such dependency raises the chances of conflict with humans. Relying on human-created food sources also leads to unhealthy bears. CDFW noted, “as with many Tahoe bears that subsist on a diet of human food and trash, [Bear 717] had severely rotted teeth and was extremely large, estimated close to 400 pounds.”

CDFW continuously monitors bear populations through GPS collars, den checks, camera traps, harvested tooth samples, and DNA collection. The agency bases bear management decisions on California’s Black Bear Conservation and Management Plan. Officials updated the plan this spring after more than 20 years.