Residents in a Los Angeles area neighborhood are expressing concern over a growing number of bear-related incidents that they say could turn deadly after a man and his dog were injured.
Videos shared online show recent encounters, including examples of bears breaking into local homes and roaming the streets of Sierra Madre unobstructed.
In one of the most recent attacks, a homeowner and his dog were injured by a mother bear who was with her cub. The extent of their injuries has not been released, but fish and wildlife crews were forced to sedate the animals.
“It’s beyond a nuisance,” former Sierra Madre mayor Glenn Lambdin said in an interview with KTLA.
“And it has already gone into the danger zones. I think we are on a time bomb that is going to explode and we don’t know when,” Lambdin said.
Residents in a neighborhood near LA express concern over a growing number of bear-related incidents they say could turn deadly after a man and his dog were injured
Videos shared online show recent encounters, including examples of bears breaking into local homes and roaming the streets of Sierra Madre unobstructed.
“It’s beyond a nuisance,” said former Sierra Madre mayor Glenn Lambdin
City residents say they’ve been raising red flags for years and are growing concerned because of a spike in recent incidents.
A video posted online shows a bear eating its way through snacks in a kitchen.
In that clip, the bear can be seen sitting on a counter with its snout in what appears to be a sack of flour.
The rest of the kitchen is in a state of disarray with open cupboards and pots, pans and other food everywhere.
Another video from a resident of Sierra Madre shows a bear jumping out of their pool and running around in their backyard.
Others have shared photos and videos of bears carefree roaming their yards and streets.
City leaders say they have been working with residents to create a plan that addresses their concerns about the wild bears.
At a recent city council meeting, officials said they are considering a resolution to get the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to improve its policies with the black bear population.
A video posted online shows a bear eating its way through snacks in a kitchen.
Sierra Madre city leaders say they have worked with residents to create a plan that addresses their concerns about the wild bears
At a recent council meeting, officials said they are considering a resolution to get the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to strengthen its policy with the black bears
The proposed resolution may not be good enough for residents who say they are concerned about the growing number of incidents.
“Sierra Madre has had four attacks on humans since 2016,” Lambdin said. “It’s the highest concentration of attacks anywhere in the state of California.”
“Unfortunately, there have been attacks in the town of Sierra Madre,” Rebecca Barboza, a fish and wildlife biologist, told KTLA.
She said the seizures are food-related. Barboza also said she thinks people need to learn how to better coexist with bears.
“Eradicating the bear population is not a viable endeavor,” she said.
“If you take bears out of the equation, they just fill in the place of all the other communities that have both bears and forests, because bears see our urban areas as their most important habitat,” said the wildlife biologist.
Councilors have said they hope the pressure they are putting on fish and wildlife officials will reduce the bear population. Lambdin agrees.
“You can imagine the impact if these bears come into our homes, invade our schools and it’s only a matter of time before our children are potentially mauled,” Lambdin said.
“Sierra Madre has had four attacks on humans since 2016,” Lambdin said. “It is the highest concentration of attacks anywhere in the state of California”
“Unfortunately, there have been attacks in the town of Sierra Madre,” Rebecca Barboza, a fish and wildlife biologist, told KTLA.
Bear sightings and encounters have been reported in the past, including an attack on a 19-year-old in 2020 and an incident where bears were caught on camera taking a dip in a backyard pool
Bear sightings and encounters have been reported in the past, including one attack to a 19-year-old in 2020 and one incident where bears were caught on camera taking a dip in a backyard pool.
In the 2020 incident, a young woman had fallen asleep in her own backyard when a bear entered the yard and mauled her.
“The bear started scratching her really viciously and then started biting her and all she could do is grab her laptop and start hitting the bear with it. said Captain Patrick Foy of the California Fish and Wildlife Department at the time.
Another more recent encounter occurred in September when a woman out for a walk came face to face with a bear on a major trail.
The woman was not hurt and she said the bear just walked past her.
“This bear just came and had my phone out and I just let it pass,” Victoria Pham told me ABC 7 Los Angeles.
“He looked at me, and I looked at him, and I thought, ‘Cool man!'” Pham said.