AR-News: (US NV) Bear expert says only people can prevent bear conflicts

[Animalara2003 at aol.com]

North Lake Tahoe Bonanza
Carl Lackey
special to the bonanza
June 25, 2004
 

At 2 a.m., all bears look big, especially one that is walking down your 
hallway or looking in the front window.

I've never had one in my house, but I've dealt with plenty of bears in the 
early morning hours, and I've taken plenty of calls from those people that have 
had them inside their homes. 

The one common denominator is that the bear always weighs "at least 900 
pounds."

In actuality, most bears in Nevada are about one-third that size, the average 
is 300 pounds for adult males and 150 pounds for adult females. 

The bear's size depends in part on what they are eating, which is the whole 
reason this issue is being discussed. 

Those bears that primarily eat garbage and other foods made available by 
humans and are considerably larger than the typical "wild" bear. 

Garbage fed bears gain weight very easily and can weigh almost double what 
they would if they were eating natural type foods, mainly vegetation. 

Black bears (the only species of bear in Nevada or California) are omnivores, 
meaning they eat both plant and animal matter. 

A black bear's diet is 85 percent vegetation, consisting of grasses, shrubs, 
flowers, berries and nuts. 

They will also eat insects of all kinds, small mammals and carrion. 

They are not supposed to be eating human garbage.

There are two common misconceptions surrounding the bears in the Tahoe Basin. 

First, that the bear population is growing, mainly because people see them 
more often. 

Second, that the bears are in the urban areas because they are starving, and 
therefore must be fed. 

Both assumptions are wrong, yet understandable to a certain degree.

A recent study by both the University of Nevada, Reno and the Nevada 
Department of Wildlife concluded that the black bear population in Nevada is stable, 
at about 150-250 animals.

This number has not changed significantly over the last 20 years. 

What has changed is the number of bears that are concentrated in and around 
the urban areas, such as Incline Village, Cave Rock, Zephyr Cove and Stateline. 

The density of bears in these urban pockets is one of the highest 
ever-recorded in North America, and is directly related to the availability of human 
garbage. 

full story:
http://www.tahoebonanza.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040625/Opinion/106250
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