For California towns with a bear problem, using dogs to hunt is no solution

California’s black bears are clever, resourceful and opportunistic. They eat anything and everything — fruits, nuts, insects, human food and pet food. They love bird feeders. They poach mountain lion kills — such as deer — that they find. It’s called kleptoparasitism. They can use their bottom teeth to work open an unlocked car door. If they find a way into your house and kitchen, they can open jars of peanut butter and jam and, of course, honey.

They are the only bear species in the state, and, despite the name, their fur ranges in color from blond to black. It’s been a century since the grizzly bear was hunted to extinction in California, leaving only its image, ironically, on the state flag.

Estimating black bears’ numbers is a fraught exercise. In its draft Black Bear Conservation Plan, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates — using new methodology — the population at about 65,000 and says it has been stable for a decade. (For years, the department had estimated the population at 35,000 using less advanced statistical modeling.) Wildlife strategist Wendy Keefover of the group Humane World for Animals — formerly the Humane Society of the United States — argues that number is simply a guess, and she cautions against putting too much emphasis on it because apex predators such as bears are sparsely populated and reproduce slowly.

Whatever has happened with the bear population, we know for sure that reports of bear-human interactions have gone up. According to the Department of Fish and Wildlife, reports have been increasing for decades — not due to more bears but to more people living and vacationing in bear territory. There were an average 674 reports annually from 2017 to 2020, but that shot up to 1,678 per year during 2021 and 2022. The Lake Tahoe Basin and the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains were particular hot spots.

California Assemblywoman Heather Hadwick (R-Alturas), whose district includes one of those hot spots, has introduced Assembly Bill 1038, which would allow hunters to haze bears — but not kill them — by having dogs chase them. Hounding of bears by hunters during bear hunting season was outlawed by the Legislature in 2012 and shouldn’t come back even if hunters don’t intend to kill the bears.

As in 2012, it remains cruel to bears, who end up exhausted and clinging to a tree. Dogs and bears may fight. And it’s unclear how chasing a random bear, perhaps in a forest, is going to discourage it from foraging for food around humans. (The Department of Fish and Wildlife already allows, in limited situations, particularly problematic bears in communities or near livestock to be hazed by dogs.)

Another part of Hadwick’s bill would authorize the Fish and Game Commission to decide whether hunters could use hounds once more to hunt and kill bears. The Legislature already banned this practice, and relinquishing its power over that ban to an appointed commission makes no sense.

Although this bill’s proposals are not helpful, bear-human encounters are dangerous and should be minimized. There’s a better way to do that. The department and animal welfare advocates strongly urge Californians to find ways to make homes, cars, campsites and farms unattractive to bears. There are numerous suggestions. Bears love smelly food. Don’t leave any food outside. Use trash cans with bear-proof latches. Take all food out of your car and then lock the car doors. On doorsteps, put down mats that cause a mild electric shock when a bear steps on them; they’re called “unwelcome mats.” Crawlspaces under decks should be secured. Remove bird feeders from your yard.

Livestock should be kept in secure pens at night. Electric fencing can be installed around chicken coops and enclosures. And for bears that keep snooping around houses or livestock, there are ways of hazing that don’t involve dogs chasing them. Motion-activated lights, noise makers and alarms can scare bears away.

And don’t feed them. In fact, it’s prohibited in the state of California. But Ann Bryant, executive director and a founder of the Bear League in the Tahoe Basin, says some vacationers do it anyway, putting food outside wherever they are staying in hopes of luring a bear and then snapping a picture. It works — and then the bear comes back expecting more food. That’s when Bryant, whose organization’s volunteers help people live more harmoniously with bears, gets a call from someone wanting to know how to make the bear stop coming around.

Bryant’s advice is simple and straightforward: Stop putting out food, and if the bear shows up again, “You stomp your feet and yell, ‘Get outta here!’ You’re taking away his confidence that people are going to be nice and feed them. You have to let the bear know the party’s over.”

So with all these methods, why do bears keep coming around? “These methods do work,” says Fish and Wildlife spokesman Peter Tira. They just need to be more widely adopted: “The key is ongoing education and awareness, forming good habits, reaching both residents and visitors to bear country.”

It will be up to the department to more aggressively get the message out. But here’s some advice that tourists should remember, says Bryant: “Think always in the back of your mind, ‘I’m in bear country.’”