Ojai Bear's Death Due to Department of Fish & Game Incompetence -- Guest Editorial by Ann Bryant
Note from Suza: Ann Bryant is executive director of the BEAR League of Lake Tahoe. Ojai resident Sue Williamson, one of the organizers of the Ojai Wildlife League, has discussed the Ojai incident extensively with Ann. To learn more, please join us at the Bear meeting tonight, 7:30 pm, Matilija Auditorium.
Bear's death due to Department of Fish & Game incompetence,
The beautiful but unfortunate bear who inadvertently ventured into Ojai recently should most certainly still be alive today and would be were it not for the inappropriate and woefully disturbing actions of a governmental agency --the Department of Fish and Game -- that answers to no one and blatantly disregards its own mission to protect California's wildlife.
In Tahoe, a bear in a tree in a neighborhood is an everyday occurrence. Everyone here knows exactly what to do . . . clear the area, bring dogs inside, make sure the bear has a clear path of escape and let him come down when he feels safe. If a bear happens to go up a tree near a school or a busy road or any place where he may need assistance, the BEAR League is called (not the Department of Fish and Game) and we monitor the outcome so as to ensure public safety and to escort the bear back to an appropriate wooded area.
We do this on a daily basis and no one ever overreacts, law enforcement helps us if we need them, and it's simply no big deal.
In literally thousands of cases of "bears in trees," we have never had to even think about using tranquilizers, we've never had a bear or a human being injured, and the bear is normally so relieved to be back in his own woodland territory that he is most reluctant to come into "Peopleville" ever again.
A bear in a tree is a sign of submission and fear, not of aggression or "something being wrong." The so-called experts (DFG) have no clue how to read bears and should have taken advantage of offers of help from numerous people who do. We would have been honored to assist, and have in many cases just like this, from all over the country . . . always with happy endings.
I am sorry for the Ojai Police Department, who obviously are not pleased with what happened. I am sorry, too, for all the residents of this town. They will not soon forget this horrific and completely unnecessary death. And I am extremely sorry for the bear, whose stolen life can and should leave behind a lesson well learned by all involved.
My hope is for everyone to realize these animals are not vicious man-eating monsters (not a single person has ever, in all of recorded history, been killed by a black bear in all of California, Nevada or Oregon). I hope also that communities will call on legitimate experts when they aren't sure how to handle a situation like this instead of relying on unqualified incompetents whose only concern is for hunters.
Note: Ann Bryant is executive director of the BEAR League of Lake Tahoe. This Editorial published in Santa Barbara News-Press October 21, 2009. To read all of Ann's articles visit the web site of the Bear League at www.savebears.org . The Bear League is grassroots volunteer non profit group in the Lake Tahoe Basin, who, on a routine basis deal with getting black bears out of neighborhoods, trees, houses, crawl spaces under houses, even nursery school playgrounds, without anyone getting hurt including the bears.
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Comments (15)
Ugh. Well-written for sure. The idea of it crawling up the tree as a sign of submission really got me. I still have the video looping in my mind. Very sad but what a great example for what to do next time. Letting nature have its space and time. Again I wonder 'what the hurry is". And do bears go after dogs, really? Or do they bring the dogs in so they won't startle the bear?
Comment #1 Posted by: DK | October 22, 2009 09:17 AM
Inexperience is not the same as incompetence. Bears are not unknown here, but they are not an everyday occurrence, either. I do not doubt the experience or knowledge of the hundreds of people who claim to know exactly what should have been done on Aliso Street, but not one of them was actually responsible for the safety of nearby residents. RESPONSIBILITY skews the equation a bit. Study after study shows that people behave differently in hypothetical exercises than when the stakes are real.
I don't like the outcome either, but I have some empathy for those who shoulder the responsibility for real-time decisions, actions, and consequences. Essays are easy - crowd control is hard. I support the protection of innocent wildlife, and when the local bear avengers are willing to assume full liability for the actions of bears in town, they will receive my full support.
Comment #2 Posted by: Anonymous | October 22, 2009 09:36 AM
Anon,
How about you "assuming full liability" for your own experience with bears. There is no crowd that needs to be controlled, and bears are not a threat to you or anyone else in town.
Comment #3 Posted by: Anonymous | October 22, 2009 11:06 PM
Anon,
The senseless killing of this animal would have been avoided if the people of this town (like you) would assume responsibility for their own "liability". There is no crowd to control and bears are not a threat to you in this town.
Comment #4 Posted by: Anonymous | October 22, 2009 11:11 PM
Bears daily come into the Bradbury-Monrovia area. "Authorites" shoo them back up the washes and trails they come down. People tolerate them sitting in their spas, no one gets hysterical and makes it into a circus. Occasionally a bear will get tranquilized and hauled back into the forest. Mountain lions in Orange County are not so lucky. They always get shot yet people go into the wilderness park down there. What do they expect of a wilderness park? "safety at the zoo?". We're in areas where wild animals have been for centuries. WHO CALLED FISH AND GAME AND WHO DECIDED TO KILL THE BEAR?? I've lived in the hills 40 yrs. and rattlesnakes, bobcats, skunks, coyotes,deer etc. are a daily occurance. I live with them. I don't call "authorities" to come out to take them out. I'm living with them in their home.I pray for the soul of any animal that meets an unjust end by the evil in humanity and that includes hunters. In this day and age there is no reason to hunt except for the killing of an innocent animal. What happened to the bears' remains? Once in Ojai I saw two women praying over a deer that had been hit by a car near the Ojai Valley Inn. Was a prayer vigil at least held for the bear? What are your children being told about why the bear was killed? That example was very bad for a developing mind. Just a thought...
Comment #5 Posted by: Cara | October 23, 2009 05:02 AM
Cara, You are my "ideal" rural citizen; you know what to do/not to do when in the presence of/living with wildlife - a worthy goal for our Ojai folks!
Comment #6 Posted by: Candy | October 23, 2009 10:10 AM
Bravo Cara! How refreshing to hear a sane voice in the wilderness! Unfortunately in Ojai we have alot of "authorities" who make decisions based on ignorance, and then try to either justify these decisions with more falsehoods, or else just pass the buck. The fact is that our police dept. botched this from the beginning, and then blamed the bear for being "obstinate". Not out of intention, just out of a lack of training and experience. (Gee, why won't that bear come down the tree? Couldn't be all these people, dogs, cars, etc.) Then they called in Fish and Game, who they knew would kill it, and our police chief has the nerve to call these people "experts". Right. Experts at killing. I happen to know of one fellow here in the Ojai Valley who loves to kill bears, mountain lions etc. He enjoys bragging about how a bear will "smoke" (have smoke come out of
his ears, nose and mouth) for 10 minutes after he shoots it. That's who the dept. of Fish and Game hires to deal with "problem" bears, meaning any bear that makes the mistake of following his nose to the easily accessible human garbage left around people's property. This all must change, and first we need to fully understand the real situation and look honestly at who are the culprits and who are the people really looking to relieve the suffering of all concerned, animals and people alike. And of course everyone is capable of change...even the killers and "authorities".
Comment #7 Posted by: Sufi | October 23, 2009 09:51 PM
O.K. soooooo enough venting. Lets organize and take action so that this travesty doesn't happen again. I attended the council meeting as well as the one at the school. It was obvious to me that people(including myself) still need more time to vent but lets move on now. I'm hoping that in the next meeting we will be able to come up with a plan of action so that I can actually DO something.
This can be challenging because so many people have so many ideas. Who is heading this thing anyways? Is it Chris? Maybe we need clarify that. When is the next meeting anyhow? And I'm hoping it could be a bit earlier!
Blessings to all.
Comment #8 Posted by: jodi Brandt | October 24, 2009 06:43 AM
In case you missed the article in the Saturday VCStar:
Ojai bear killing spurs new group, possible investigation
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2009/oct/23/Ojai-bear-killing-spurs-new-group-possible/
Comment #9 Posted by: Suza for the Bear | October 25, 2009 11:39 AM
Community Discusses Bear Concerns
http://ovnblog.com/?p=2012
Comment #10 Posted by: Bear Watch | October 25, 2009 11:45 AM
It is important that the powers that be understand how much noise there was that night, that the bear was not given until at least 1 or 2 in the morning when the area was quiet--downtown is not quiet--for the police chief to say this animal was obstinate is crazy--he was scared especially with all the noise in the area --that is really key to the bear's behavior
Comment #11 Posted by: Anonymous | October 25, 2009 12:21 PM
just learned head of fish and game resigned effective nov 1, 2009 maybe we can have some input as to who is in charge also is it true that fish and game is actively looking for some one to sign a depravation permit for a bear on the east end--usually a bear gets at least 3 strikes--guess it is going after garbage cans on reeves rd--a friend of mine there has seen a mother and 2 cubs around but there is no law against bears walking around--hope fish and game is not playing games--need to check with police dept to see if this is true--how would they know which bear it is--maybe its kids or dogs
Comment #12 Posted by: Anonymous | October 25, 2009 12:33 PM
it's like the report that they wrote was a different account of what was happening in terms of noise and distractions--sounds like it was all quiet after dark (which by the way is around 7:30 or so and they waited only 2.5 or 3 hours--most bears move later then that--midnight or so--anyway noise is a major factor in the case of this bear's death
Comment #13 Posted by: Anonymous | October 25, 2009 09:36 PM
I just saw on the local news last night that one of the DFG wardens, or higher ups had resigned over our incident here in Ojai with the bear. Does anyone have the the details on this and who it was? I didn't catch the whole story.
Comment #14 Posted by: maria | October 26, 2009 09:03 AM
Here's the news story concerning the resignation -
CA Fish and Game Director Resigns
Comment #15 Posted by: Ginny | October 26, 2009 11:47 AM