The Nevada Division of Wildlife killed a mother bear in the Kingsbury area last week, and several nearby residents are angry about it.

“We’re irate. We’re all so mad, we’re shaking,” said Kingsbury resident Sandy Yarrow. “We all loved her. We didn’t want anything to happen to her. They said she was an ‘incorrigible bear.’ That’s how they put it, but she wasn’t.”

The Division of Wildlife said it followed its standard procedure.

“We do everything by policy, and we don’t enjoy it, I can tell you that,” said Richard Heap, Department of Wildlife regional director for the northwest Nevada.

How the department handles bear complaints is capture the bear and tranquilize it. When it is released it is sprayed with pepper spray and shot with a harmless explosive ball that makes a very loud noise.

It is a deterrent technique to scare bears into staying away from people, Heap said.

“It works most of the time,” he said. “We did that to this bear twice before. In our policy, when that technique doesn’t work, we put the bear down.”

The bear reportedly had four cubs.

Heap said some of them were captured and released using the technique. They were at least 2 years old, Heap said, and able to take care of themselves.

Yarrow said the bear was welcome in her neighborhood and caused no problems. She said residents used to set their alarms with the hope of seeing her in the mornings.

“We loved her. She would never, ever, ever, ever hurt a soul,” Yarrow said.

Heap said the complaints came from The Ridge condominium complex in that area.

Tahoe Daily Tribune E-mail: tribune@tahoe.com

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