Bear Numbers Bloom in Los Angeles County

Los Angeles - State biologists have concluded that the ever-increasing number of local black bears are not native to Southern California mountains, but are descendants of 33 troublesome bears that were relocated here from the Sierra Nevada during the 1930s.

Eleven female bears, and 22 males, were brought into the area during the Great Depression and appear to be the sole ancestors of the animals that are increasingly, boldly venturing into neighborhoods along the foothills, and as far west as Ventura, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reported today.

Bear numbers are blooming in the mountains of L.A. County, and bears have recently been spotted near Santa Clarita, and north and west of the San Fernando Valley. Rangers in the Santa Monica Mountains have said they expect that bears recently spotted in Thousand Oaks to move into the coastal range above Malibu as well.

In the San Gabriel Mountain foothills, Monrovia reported 464 bear sightings last year, making bears an almost-everyday occurrence there, the newspaper reported. It was just 15 years ago that the appearance of a single black bear -- nicknamed Sampson -- created a media sensation, with buzzing TV helicopters and "Save Sampson" t-shirts.

About 300-500 genetically-similar bears now live in the San Gabriels, many within sight of the city, the Tribune reported.

Analysis of bear DNA shows that every animal analyzed descended from some of those 33 problem bears that were transplanted here from the Sierra Nevada by the state. Although grizzly and black bears were native to local mountains in the Mission Era, hunters killed all of them by about 1920, biologists have said.

But in the 1930s, "they took some problem bears, trapped them, and it was decided to go ahead and relocate them here," said Kim Bosell, regional superintendent for the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, in a interview with the Tribune.

Only two bear attacks on humans have been reported in Los Angeles County since 1980, the state says. And rangers said the solution to keeping bears away from houses is no different in L.A. than it is everywhere: don't feed bears, and use bear-proof garbage cans.