Killing of wrong bear led to creation of advocacy group
By Jeff Delong, Reno Gazette-Journal
It started with paw prints that didn’t match a guilty party.
It was back in 1998 when a trapper hired by the California Department of Fish and Game shot and killed a mother bear and her cub after a bear tore through a cellar door on Lake Tahoe’s west shore in search of food.
Ann Bryant founded the BEAR League. Photo/BEAR League
But the wrong bear was shot, residents of the Homewood area argued, insisting state wildlife officials were far too bloodthirsty when it came to policy concerning Tahoe’s bears.
“It was utter chaos. The local people were completely incensed,” said Ann Bryant, an area resident. “It was a crime against nature and we all took it that way.”