This California bear’s ear’s must have been burning. Humans and bears do their best to coexist, and those living in areas that could be considered “bear country” know that all too well. It’s estimated that 340,000 bears live in the United States, and in certain parts of the country, residents have to always be on alert and keep an eye out for bears. Black bears make up most of that total number (around 300,000), and one place where you are likely to see them is in California.
Roughly 50,000 to 70,000 black bears call the Golden State home… and there’s one specific bear that’s causing chaos in Monrovia, California.
Monrovia is a city that’s near Los Angeles and backs up against the mountainous Angeles National Forest. In other words, it’s a perfect combination for a black bear. The Monrovia area is close to both the wilderness and the urban population. Thus, bears can try to snatch a quick meal from someone’s unsecured garbage and easily make it back to the forest… animals care about their commutes too.
The only issue is that this bear may be the one that attacked a woman that was walking her dog in a Monrovia neighborhood this past weekend. So authorities from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife have been doing their best to remove the black bear from the area… as they also believe it could be the same one that’s taken up residence in the crawlspace of a home near where the attack occurred.
A reporter named Erin Myers from KTLA went out to the scene for a live shot and story about all of the bear activity. Funny enough, a black bear photobombed the report, and got everyone in the Los Angeles newsroom gasping – and worried about the safety of Myers and the crew there to cover the story.
She stayed calm and collected, and provided real-time commentary on the black bear – presumably a mother protecting her cub – as it eluded a trap that was set up to capture it. All in all, it was a masterclass in live reporting:
“A black bear unexpectedly wandered into the background of a live report Sunday morning as KTLA’s Erin Myers covered an earlier bear encounter in a Monrovia neighborhood.”
What a wild video… and to be clear, KTLA wasn’t able to confirm that’s the bear that attacked a dog walker this past weekend. But there’s a good chance that is the same black bear…
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has previously encouraged homeowners in bear country to close up their crawlspaces with bear-proof material. Bears, especially in the winter months and/or if they have cubs to take care of, love to squeeze their way into a warm and cozy shelter… and it doesn’t matter if that means living under someone else’s roof (and not paying rent).
Hopefully this California homeowner will be able to rid the premises of the bear that’s causing them trouble, and I’m glad that KTLA’s Erin Myers walked away okay after this bear got a little too close for comfort. During the segment, she said it was the second time a bear had shown up in her shot while she was reporting live… so maybe she just needs to leave the bear stories to some other reporters.
