NDOW kills ‘problem’ Glenbrook bear

This bear was killed Aug. 5 by Nevada wildlife officials. Photo/Provided

Nevada Department of Wildlife officials today killed a 3-year-old male black bear they said was a threat to public safety.

The bear had initially been caught in Glenbrook on June 24. A tag was put in its ear so it could be identified in the future if it caused problems. It was released in the Mount Rose area.

It was photographed by a homeowner in the south Reno area on June 28.

“One person in that Galena neighborhood tried to shoo the bear away from his house but the bear actually tried to follow him during this encounter,” NDOW biologist Carl Lackey said in a statement. “This kind of behavior shows a level of habituation to humans that can be very dangerous.”

By Aug. 4 it was back in Tahoe causing problems. It was seen again Sunday near the Glenbrook golf course, which is where it was trapped.

Glenbrook has been dealing with bear issues for much of the summer.  This particular bear had been reported as the one that had broken into an outbuilding and was implicated in the death of a goat, according to Lackey.

But not everyone believes killing bears is necessary.

The BEAR League on its Facebook page says, “Soon there will be no bears left in Nevada, thanks to NDoW and especially Carl Lackey.”

This is the third bear NDOW has killed this year for what it calls public safety reasons. In that same time period 22 bears have been handled and released.

“We will see more and more bears searching for food. It is the responsibility of people living in bear country to not attract the bears by poorly handling garbage or leaving other attractants like bird and pet food available,” Lackey said.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report