It has been a busy week at Incline Village on the north shore of Lake Tahoe for Nevada Department of Wildlife game wardens dealing with nuisance bears. On Thursday, NDOW euthanized a 263-pound male black bear and on Sunday a bear was released in the wild south of Gardnerville.
The euthanized bear was positively identified as one that had been breaking into and entering cars, at least one home and some garages in an Incline neighborhood, according to a Nevada Department of Wildlife news release.
“We had to humanely euthanize that bear because it was a threat to public safety,” said Chris Healy, NDOW Public Information Officer. “The bear’s behavior was disturbing because it had no fear of humans while at the same time it was very destructive to property and potentially dangerous to people. To make matters worse, it seems that a person or persons in that area has been attracting the bears by feeding them.”
The person who called NDOW and asked for help dealing with the bear has been subject to death threats and other forms of bullying and intimidation since last Wednesday. Adrienne Evans of Incline, the person who asked NDOW for help with the nuisance bear has received multiple calls, texts and internet postings promising retribution against her, her husband and others she knows in the Incline community.
One said “you’ll be struck dead (and) if that bear dies you will have to leave Incline,” Evans said. “All these people called and threatened me and that’s definitely inappropriate and most likely illegal. There are laws against harassment, bullying and stalking.”
Why Aren’t Incline Bears Hibernating
The question being asked by many people is just why the bears at Incline are not hibernating? It turns out that one of Evans’ neighbors has been consistently feeding the bears throughout the past few months.
“NDOW will soon be issuing a written warning to that person who will be the first person at Incline warned against feeding the bears under SB 371 which was passed and signed into law during the last session of the Nevada State Legislature,” said Healy. The first offense for feeding bears and other big game mammals is a written warning with the second and third offenses punished by fines of $250.00 and $500.00.
“If a black bear has a source of food available to it,” said biologist Carl Lackey, “it won’t hibernate. People feeding the bears are not keeping them wild, they are domesticating them. It is just plain wrong and illegal.”
Pictures provided to NDOW show multiple bears, some with cubs, being fed by humans. “Our goal is to keep these bears wild and the actions of those who are feeding the bears are getting in the way of that goal. The euthanized bear from last Wednesday is dead because some selfish people decided to feed the bears instead of keeping them wild,” said Healy.
Active Bear Weekend Continues at Incline
NDOW captured a bear on Saturday at Incline. “It wasn’t the bear we were looking for,” said Game Warden Jake Kreamer, “so we released it Sunday morning south of Gardnerville. Another trap was set again Saturday in hopes of capturing the targeted bear which has been trying to break into cars and has broken into homes multiple times.”
As of Sunday afternoon the bear had not been captured.
Report Illegal Feeding of Bears—OGT Hotline
It is illegal to feed bears or other big game mammals. Anyone wishing to report illegal activity can call the Operation Game Thief Hotline at 1-800-992-3030. The OGT Hotline is a place where persons concerned about the illegal feeding of bears can provide information to NDOW game wardens anonymously.
