A Bear Is Responsible For 12 NorCal Home Invasions —​ Now Her Life Is At Stake

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA — Rising tensions about the fate of a bear, affectionately dubbed Hope, and her cub, called Bounce, resulted in a confrontation last week in South Lake Tahoe, with community members gathering and shouting at a state wildlife employee armed with a paint gun.

Since July 20, Hope’s DNA has been linked to at least 12 home invasions in South Lake Tahoe, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which refers to the bear by its ear tag number, No. 753.

The situation came to a head in the middle of last week, after wildlife officials told KGO on Wednesday that they planned to kill the bear but save her cub.

The very next day, Hope broke into an unoccupied home on Butler Avenue and lit its gas stove, according to the department, which said in a blog post that a staff member called to collect DNA evidence from another home in the neighborhood discovered the break-in and called 911.

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“Items were melting on the stovetop,” the blog post said. “Emergency responders arrived, turned off the gas and averted a potentially catastrophic fire to the unoccupied home, neighboring homes and the surrounding forest.”

Hope and Bounce, meanwhile, fled into a nearby tree, according to the department.

The staffer was monitoring the bears in the tree, armed with a paintball gun, when comunity members arrived, “threatening the staff member’s safety and using vulgar language to incite fear,” according to the department, which noted that a social media post had, “erroneously inflamed the situation by asking people nearby to ‘witness’ the situation.”

This appears to be a reference to a Facebook post the same day from the Lake Tahoe area nonprofit Bear League.

“Hope and Bounce are currently high up in a tree on the 2000 block of Butler Avenue in South Lake Tahoe, and Fish and Wildlife are there and we know they have issued a standing order to kill Hope,” the post said. “If you are in the area, please go act as a respectful witness.”

In a follow-up Facebook post on Sunday, the Bear League acknowledged that “some angry residents were yelling at the lone employee” and “they scared her.”

South Lake Tahoe police were eventually called to diffuse the conflict so the staffer “could get safely to their vehicle,” according to the department, which will continue to monitor the bears for the time being, the blog post said.

“This particular bear has a long history of home invasions and escalating conflict behavior in South Lake Tahoe dating to 2022,” the department said in the blog post. “Sadly, the bear is teaching this behavior to its cub and potentially perpetuating another generation of human-bear conflict and bear-related property damage in the Lake Tahoe Basin.”

The Bear League, in its Facebook posts, noted that human activity, including leaving food in unlocked vehicles and trash cans that aren’t properly secured, contributes to Hope and Bounce’s ongoing interest in human-occupied spaces, putting them in danger.

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The California Department of Fish and Wildlife offers these tips for coexisting safely with bears:

Stash Your Food and Trash

• Use bear-proof containers(opens in new tab) to secure trash, recycling, and compost.
• Pick ripe fruit off trees, and promptly collect fruit that falls off trees.
• Keep doors and windows closed and locked when unoccupied.
• Clean BBQ grills after each use and store in a secure shed or garage when not in use.
• Remove unsecured trash, food, and strongly scented items (e.g., sunscreen) from vehicles and yard.

Prevent Potential Conflict

• Bring pets inside at night.
• Keep livestock in secure pens at night. Install electric fencing around chicken coops and enclosures.
• Eliminate access to potential den sites (e.g., crawl spaces under decks).
• Install motion-activated lights, noise makers, or alarms.
• Install electric mats (‘unwelcome mats’).
• Use sensory deterrent to deter potential access to attractants (e.g., place ammonia in shallow bowl).
• Remove bird feeders from yard.