SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – Early afternoon on Thursday, August 21, BEAR League volunteers and an employee from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) clashed at a vacation home rental on Burton Avenue. Bear #753, also known as Hope, was ordered to be euthanized after a history of human-bear interactions—but bear advocates have been adamant about her survival.

According to Kathi Zollinger, a BEAR League volunteer, they received a call around 11:40 a.m. about a sighting of Bear #753 and her cub, informally named Bounce. Zollinger said the CDFW was already present when she received the report. The CDFW deemed #753 a conflict bear that was too habituated to humans and reported that she had broken into 15 homes. The department ordered her to be trapped and killed earlier last week.

Bear #753 reportedly entered the vacation home rental, turned on the gas while inside, then fled outside and up into a tree with her cub. While it was reported as a break-in, others on the scene said that the window was unlatched, as there were no signs of a forced entry, and blamed irresponsible humans for the incident.

A single CDFW employee who reportedly works under a biologist was present with a tranquilizer gun. She was on the property in the backyard and closed the gate behind her.

The Tribune arrived on the scene around 12:30 p.m., when the bear and her cub were still up in the tree. Multiple neighbors and BEAR League volunteers attempted to haze the bear into staying in the tree and out of range of the tranquilizer gun. Zollinger used a paintball gun several times, while others yelled at the bear.

It was unclear who called the initial report to the CDFW, but it caused quite a stir in the neighborhood. Many blamed the people who fed the animals and the lack of bear boxes in the neighborhood. One resident told the volunteers to “shut up” and was met with accusations that he was the one who called in the report.

Other people who were drawn to the commotion hurled insults at the CDFW employee and questioned whether she was allowed to be on the property. Some tried to call the owner of the rental, but the property manager who arrived on the scene said he would leave it up to the CDFW’s decision.

One BEAR League volunteer began recording the CDFW employee, who also recorded the volunteer. As they confronted each other, the bear and her cub escaped from the tree and headed away from the employee.

South Lake Tahoe police and councilmember David Jinkens arrived at 12:52 p.m., and the police spoke with the CDFW employee. Jinkens told the Tribune that the city manager, Joe Irvin and the chief of police had been arranging a meeting with the CDFW regarding the bear situation.

“They care, we care—we want a positive resolution and to not have a knee-jerk response where we start killing bears,” said Jinkens. He added that they would likely be discussing this during the next council meeting on this upcoming Tuesday.

Jinkens was highly concerned about the bear issue and receptive to concerns about the CDFW’s jurisdiction in Tahoe, what the appropriate response was and what methods could be used to handle the bear instead of euthanization. He also expressed that he wanted to have the meeting with the CDFW before the bear was killed.

Lt. Scott Crivelli acknowledged that the community has been upset since the CDFW began trying to trap the bear. Regarding his conversation with the CDFW employee, he said, “I talked to her so I could go up the chain and have a conversation, which I’ll be doing once we get out of here. Our goal is to set up a meeting with the CDFW sometime soon, dependent on everybody’s schedules.”

The bear and her cub meanwhile, left the neighborhood after volunteers followed and hazed her away.

Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.