American Thanks to the following agencies

for their assistance:

Name
Black BearsofinPark El Dorado County
U.S. Forest Service,
Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit

California
StateState
Park Parks
California Department of Fish and Game
U.S Fish and Wildlife Service
Tahoe Council for Wild Bears
Yosemite National Park
Sequoia National Park
Black bears (Ursus americanus)
California State Parks, Sierra District:
are an important component
Mono Lake State Tufa Natural Reserve
Bodie SHP of California’s ecosystems and
Grover Hot Springs SP
a valuable natural legacy for
Lake Valley SRA
Washoe Meadows SP the people of California. The
Emerald Bay SP
black bear is the only species
DL Bliss SP
Ed Z’berg Sugar Pine Point SP of bear remaining in California
Ward Creek Unit
Tahoe SRA
and Nevada. The common name
Burton Creek SP of black bear is misleading;
Kings Beach SRA
Donner Memorial SP
California black bears may be
Plumas Eureka SP black, brown, cinnamon, even
Malakoff Diggins SHP
Empire Mine SHP
blonde; sometimes with a white
South Yuba River SP patch on the chest.

Photo:
Janice Clark For more information contact:
Park Office, Campground Entry Station or
California State Parks
State Parks and Campgrounds in the
Sierra District Headquarters
Sierra District are situated in areas that 7360 West Lake Blvd. (Highway 89)
are also black bear habitat. Tahoma, CA 96142
(530) 525-7232
Bear Encounters - Never approach a bear! Strict regulations are in place to
In the campground: Do not run. Be aggressive; assert your dominance by standing tall r­educe conflicts between humans
and making noise to scare the bear away. Banging pots and pans together and shouting and bears. There is zero tolerance
loudly may work. for non-compliance.
In the woods: This is the bear’s territory; respect
• Bear-resistant food storage facilities
that and do not run. Make eye contact, but are available at Sierra District
don’t stare. Pick up small children. Make Campgrounds.
yourself appear as large as possible. Stay
calm and quiet, back away slowly. • All food and refuse must be stored
Black bears will usually avoid in the bear-resistant facilities
confrontation with humans. provided unless it is being actively
Bears will often climb a tree used or transported.
if frightened and usually
• No food or refuse may be stored in a
won’t come down as
vehicle in the campground.
long as humans
or dogs are • Food that cannot be stored in the
present. bear-resistant facilities provided
must be discarded.

• Non-compliance will result in park

staff confiscating food and/or issuing
a citation.

What you
know and do
Get out can prevent
of the way! injury to bears,
If the bear attempts to get away, property, even
do not block the bear’s escape route.
to you, your
Report all bear encounters: in State Park family and
campgrounds and picnic grounds to the park
friends!
office, entrance station, campground hosts or to
rangers on patrol.
Photo:
Bryan Harry
 Black Bears
Adults typically weigh 100 to 400 on seasonal availability of food. Behavior Black bears can be active
pounds and measure between 4 and 6 Black bears’ diets consist of six food anytime during the day or night. As
feet from tip of nose to tail. Males are categories: grasses, berries, nuts, winter approaches, bears will forage
larger than females. Some adult males insects, small mammals, wood fiber, for food up to 20 hours a day to store
may weigh over 500 pounds. and carrion (decaying flesh). enough fat to sustain them through
Food shortages occur in summer hibernation.
Black bears have curved claws that
allow them to climb trees. They often and fall when wild food is no longer Black bears may scavenge in garbage
climb to retreat from threats, including available. Then, bears get bolder cans and dumpsters, and break into
humans. A healthy bear may run up to and travel farther searching for food. and demolish the interiors of houses,
30 miles per hour for short distances. Human encounters with bears may be garages, cars and campers. Bears will
Black bears are excellent swimmers more frequent during these times. also raid campsites and food caches
and are capable of crossing up to 1 ½ The trunk of your car and coolers are and sometimes injure people. Often
miles of open fresh water for food. not bear-proof! Bears may learn to these incidents are the result of careless
associate wrappers and containers with human behavior. Black bears will seek
Diet Bears are omnivorous; their food and can identify them by sight. to avoid confrontation with humans.
teeth are designed for crushing food They also learn to open some kinds of If encountered, always leave them an
rather than cutting like meat-eating vehicle doors. escape route.
carnivores. Bears’ diets are based

Photo: Photo:
Tammy Evans Photo:
Scott Elliott
Janice Clark
Never Feed a Bear!
People should never feed bears, even unintentionally.
Once bears get food from people, they begin to
associate all humans with food. Without a natural fear of
people, bears become increasingly aggressive.

• Black bears have a very keen sense of smell

and are attracted to any food or refuse they
can smell. In California a black bear was
tracked as it traveled three miles upwind, in a
straight line, to a food source.

• Store food, toiletries and/or anything with a

scent properly in the bear-proof lockers
provided.

• Keep sleeping bags, tents and sleeping areas

free of food and beverage odors. Photo:
Tammy Evans

• Clean everything after preparing a meal.

• Dispose of garbage properly. If a bear-proof

dumpster is not available, store your garbage in
A Fed Bear is a
bear-proof lockers provided at campgrounds,
until it can be disposed of properly. Dead Bear!
Once habituated to sources of human food, bears will seek them out, creating conflicts with humans. The bear’s behavior
will not stop voluntarily. Unless the behavior can be corrected, bears may have to be killed. To avoid these deaths, the food
source must be removed.