As snow melts and the end of winter gives way to a busy spring for wildlife, bears that have been in winter dens are emerging, and they are hungry, reports the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
In the fall, bears went through hyperphagia, which is an increase in feeding activity — consuming about 25,000 calories a day — driven by their need to bulk up before winter. Over the course of the season, bear bodies utilize those fat stores during hibernation when food is scarce. Come spring, their body mass will have naturally decreased and, as a result, bears will be on the lookout for easy food sources to help rebuild those fat reserves. Bears will instinctively move to elevations where they can find fresh grasses and other plants. This search can bring them into neighborhoods, says the Tahoe Interagency Bear Team.
CDFW asks everyone to be vigilant about cleaning up and securing bear attractants as bears make their way through the area. Experts emphasize that properly disposing of and securing garbage is one of the most important things people can do to help keep local black bears wild. People should always remove food and trash from vehicles, keep windows closed and ensure doors are locked. Bears can open unlocked car doors and even enter through sunroofs to reach the smallest attractant like a stick of gum. People should also lock doors and windows on buildings to prevent bear break-ins. The national BearWise program offers six at-home BearWise basics people can implement to live responsibly in bear country.
Individual actions can impact an entire ecosystem
Bears play an important role in the local ecosystem. Allowing bears access to human food and garbage is detrimental to natural processes in the region, says CDFW. Bears help spread berry seeds through their scat, transport pollen, clean up animals that died during the winter, eat insects and provide other essential functions of nature. When bears find human food and garbage, bird seed, pet food, coolers or other sources of unnatural food, the area loses the benefits bears offer through natural processes.
Unnatural food sources can also impact bears’ overall health by damaging and rotting their teeth and their ability to stay wild. In fact, bears will unknowingly eat indigestible items from human trash like foil, paper products, plastics and metal that can damage their internal systems and even lead to death. If these items do make it through their digestive system, they leave it behind in their scat instead of the native seeds and healthy fertilizer needed to grow the next generation of plant life.
Call the experts
Spring is also the time of year that residents or visitors may see a bear they believe looks unhealthy, sick or orphaned, says CDFW. Bear health concerns should be reported to CDFW wildlife professionals. These agency experts have the training, expertise and veterinary resources to assess a bear’s condition and transport it for care, if necessary. Healthy bears mean a healthy ecosystem, but it takes everyone’s cooperation to contribute to the success of both, says CDFW. Tips about living responsibly with bears are available at tahoebears.org and bearwise.org.
Human-bear conflicts can be reported as follows:
- Contact CDFW at 916-358-2917 or report online using the wildlife incident reporting system at apps.wildlife.ca.gov/wir.
- Nonemergency wildlife interactions in California State Parks can be reported to the parks’ public dispatch at 916-358-1300.
- If the issue is an immediate threat, call the local sheriff’s department or 911.
Information provided by California Department of Fish and Wildlife