This bear was stalking a cleaning lady's little dog that was in her car. She was behind the front door of the house yelling for help. The bear wouldn't let anyone near the car containing its prey. A friend and I used my truck to drive the bear back from the car*, but it kept making bluff attacks at us and wouldn't let us get near the puppy. Eventually, we managed to
drive the bear back far enough, and the lady sprinted to her car and drove off with the little dog. (*This was really a dumb thing to do because the bear could have easily torn the doors off of the truck.)
Welcome to The Tahoe Bear website.
- “Tahoe bear” refers to the black bears in the Lake Tahoe basin, which are opportunistic omnivores drawn to human food and garbage, creating a serious problem for both the bears and residents. To keep Tahoe bears wild and safe, visitors and locals are urged to secure all food and trash in bear-resistant containers, never feed bears, secure crawl spaces, and Report Incidents: Report bear conflicts to the Nevada Department of Wildlife (775-688-BEAR) or the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (916-358-2917).
- Types of Bears at Tahoe
- Black Bears: The only type of bear found in California and at Lake Tahoe.
- Appearance: Black bears vary in color from tan to black, but Tahoe bears are often described as having a cinnamon color.
Bears are cute and often entertaining, but don’t be misled, bears can be dangerous.
- Black bears can kill a human or even a lion with a single swipe of its paw.
- Black bears can run at speeds of 25 to 30 miles per hour (I personally clocked one at 35 mph).
- Black bears are at least five time stronger than the average human.
- They have a bite force of up to 800 PSI, capable of crushing bone or a skull.
- A black bear is strong enough to bend a car door in half and rip a solid door off its mountings.
- This immense physical strength, combined with their agility and speed, makes them powerful and dangerous animals.
Can they really hurt me?
A black bear charging you is no joke. They can weight up 700 lbs.
When standing up on their feet, they can measure up to 7 feet.
When attacking, bears are known to swing their paws and cause severe wounds with their short, curved claws.
Their bite isn’t nearly as strong as a grizzly’s (about half the force), but depending on its location, would also be enough to kill, as one did in Downieville when it broke into a woman’s cabin in the middle of the night, snuck up on her while she was asleep and killed her with one bite to her neck. (The bear continued to return for days feeding on her body before the corpse was discovered.)
What to Do When Encountering Aggressive Bears in Tahoe
Reporting human-bear conflicts: CDFW (California) – Wildlife Incident Reporting (WIR) system at apps.wildlife.ca.gov/wir OR 916-358-2917
Non-emergency wildlife interactions in California State Parks can be reported to its public dispatch at (916) 358-1300.
In Nevada, contact NDOW at 775-688-BEAR (2327).
If the issue is an immediate threat, call local law enforcement or 911.
The CDFW does not make it easy to request assistance. The form only collects data about the incident unless the report contains a specific allegation that the bear has “damaged property, livestock and/or the person filling the report feels threatened”. If so, a depredation permit can be requested to capture the bear.
The Tahoe Bear 