The Ojai Post

Here is a copy of my Letter to the editor:

Re: Bear death prompts formation of animal rights group (VC Reporter News 11/5)

Thank you for your story on the bear, the Ojai Wildlife League and interview with Roland Takayama, the local head warden of the California Department of Fish and Game.

As someone who witnessed the bear's death, I would like to point out several conspicuous omissions in Mr. Takayama's version of the bear incident.

As your article noted, Mr. Takayama is the authority responsible for "dispatching the bear." Reading his interview, one gets the impression that the merciful Fish & Game wardens gave the "lost and disoriented" bear ample opportunity to make a safe escape back to the mountains.

The article states, "The warden also said that the bear needed tranquilizing after it became evident it wasn’t coming down from its perch. According to department rules, that constitutes a safety hazard."

Mr. Takayama is then quoted as saying, “If it comes down — and that’s what we were absolutely hoping it would do — we would escort (it) in the right direction.”

What Mr. Takayama fails to mention is that he gave the order to kill the bear at around 10 pm on a noisy Saturday night. There is also no mention of the fact that the police were trying to keep the bear up the tree during the daytime. Several members of the public questioned the zoo-like atmosphere on Saturday morning.The area was not cordoned off till around midday.

Bears climb trees when frightened. The chance of a shy black bear coming down with party music playing nearby, cars driving up to the cordoned area, turning around, their headlights shining toward the tree, sirens on Ojai Avenue, plus dogs and people walking in the neighborhood, are practically nil. Even the police car I was standing next to had the engine running in order to fire up all the computerized communication gadgets.

I was standing next to the police when I saw the game wardens shining flashlights up into the tree, which I later heard caused the bear to climb higher. Shortly thereafter I heard the sound of branches breaking and the bear crashing to the ground.

Mr. Takayama portrays himself as an authority on bear behavior. But is he?

Exaggerated perceptions of danger have historically led to bear eradication campaigns using poison, trapping, and shooting. Mr. Takayama is a hunter. Perhaps he perceives black bears as predators, threatening to man.

According to wildlife biologists such as Lynn Rogers, Ph.D., ("Bearwalker of the Northwoods,") who has studied black bears for over four decades, that perception could not be further from the truth.

Bears are afraid of humans, and usually will run away if they see or smell a person in the vicinity. A bear in a tree is a sign of submission and fear, not of aggression

This Ojai bear was seen drinking out of a fountain and could very well have been thirsty. He came to town three days before it rained, at the end of a long drought.

Not a single person has ever, in all of recorded history, been killed by a black bear in all of California, Nevada or Oregon. .

Mr. Takayama also does not mention that other options were available the day that the bear was in the tree.

The public has a right to know why Mr. Takayama refused the help of Julia Di Sieno, the Executive Director of Animal Rescue Team, who was on the phone with the officials on the scene several times that day. Di Sieno’s team offered their wildlife veterinarian, their bear biologist, and a secure 14ft trailer that would have transported the bear to a private holding facility in the Santa Ynez Valley and impounded the bear for 14 days until the Telazole tranquilizer drug wore off.

Ann Bryant, executive director of the BEAR League of Lake Tahoe (www.savebears.org) states in her writings that "The 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."

She states that "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."

In her articles she describes how "In 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."

There is a great need for accurate information about bears, both locally and worldwide. The newly formed Ojai Wildlife League is joining forces with other bear and wildlife organizations dedicated to educating the public and replacing misconceptions with facts.

The time has come to update CDFG's outdated kill policy to reflect the conditions we live in. Many animals have been displaced by urban growth, wildfires and drought. Authorities should start working with the Animal Rescue Team and other wildlife rescue organizations.

Last month Assemblyman Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) sent a letter to the CDFG Director, requesting a review of the Department’s policies in regards to tranquilizing and euthanizing wildlife that are deemed to be a public threat. Please contact Assemblyman Pedro Nava, Senator Tony Strickland and other elected officials and urge them to change current policies.

Suza Francina is a former Ojai mayor and City Council member. She is a founding member of the Ojai Wildlife League (OWL) www.OjaiWildlifeLeague.com.

To read all of Ann Bryant's articles visit the web site of the Bear League at www.savebears.org. The Bear League is a volunteer group who 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.

YAY FOR THE OJAI WILDLIFE LEAGUE!!! YOU GO GUYS. Why didn't the FD have a net to catch the bear when it fell out of the tree??? Please ask them. They need to be put on the spot too. Nobody should be given any slack for this senseless, needless act. What happened to the bear's cremains? Were they returned to Ojai for a proper burial???