Mama bear, cubs surprise diners on busy California street

A mother bear flanked by two cubs wandered southbound down a busy Lima Street in Sierra Madre on Thursday, Sept. 14, as surprised lunchtime diners scrambled inside and public safety personnel alerted the family to change direction.

It all happened near the patios of the restaurants that line Sierra Madre Boulevard. It was just a few blocks from City Hall, where officials and residents have been sounding off on how to deal with a recent rise in the number of bear sightings – as recent as the day before, where a bear, apparently attracted by mangos, got into a home in the same general area as Thursday’s sighting.

“It’s learned behavior now,” Police Chief Gustavo Barrientos said. “With positive and negative stimuli, you know, they know that by going through a window, there’s a reward and they’re going for it.”

As she ambled east toward the closest eatery Thursday at lunchtime, Nano Cafe, the police PA system loudly alerted patrons to head inside, which also alerted the bear to change direction.

Barrientos said the bears were non-aggressive and continued south through the parking lot and yards at Lima Street and Sierra Madre Boulevard.

Barrientos said that the police force is not trained or professionally equipped to handle and relocate wildlife appropriately. This is a task for Fish and Wildlife experts. While police do have more aggressive deterants — pepper ball bullets and beanbags — a passive, loud deterance is the best way to evacuate the bear, Barrientos said.

“We haven’t had any attacks against humans,” he said. “We have had some aggressive behavior displayed, but very minimal. However, these are animals at the end of the day, and they’re gonna defend themselves. If we anger the bear then next person that comes across them may pay the consequence.”

The city of Sierra Madre has had quite the bear week, on Thursday seeing its sightings for the years so far jump from 303 reported sightings last week to 307 today.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife coordinated with police to safely remove the hungry bear from a South Hermosa Avenue home on Wednesday morning.

This year, the city implemented a Wildlife Incident Reporting (WIR) system, enacted a local ordinance prohibiting feeding, and started a local Wilderness Management Plan. Beginning in late October, every resident will receive a free, bear-proof trash bin.

Additionally, in April, the City Council adopted a resolution declaring urbanized bears a threat to public safety and formally asked the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the California Fish and Game Commission to agendize the issue.

But as the incidents continue, residents during Tuesday’s city council meeting demanded more be done amid a spate of recent encounters.

Wildlife officials say they are studying the recent patterns.

Jessica West, a human-wildlife conflict specialist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the department is not aware of any particular food scarcity, in the area, or how this year’s extreme weather patterns may have impacted bears (or other wildlife) in regard to food availability and human-wildlife conflict. Though West noted that climate change in general — including drought and wildfires — is likely a contributing factor for the increase in human-bear conflict and sightings, it’s not the sole explanation. Human population growth and development also play a role, she said.

“These types of trends require examination overtime with comparison to data from previous years to reach a conclusion – so, it is difficult to say with certainty at this point in time,” West said. “Something important to consider is that the San Gabriel foothill communities lie within the boundaries of transitional habitat. This habitat supports bears and other wildlife, and it is not unusual for bears to be present here.”

West said foothill communities provide ample food resources for bears within the Angeles National Forest, and that will continue to attract bears to neighborhoods.

West suggested eliminating items in households that bring bears and other wildlife into populated communities in the first place. That includes securely storing food and garbage, using bear-resistant trash cans, not putting trash cans on the street before the morning of collection day, not leaving food or scented items in cars, securing pets and livestock, and making sure doors and windows on homes and cars are secure, West said.