--- title: California Drought Wildlife: Bears May Be Coming To Los Angeles description: The California drought has killed more than 12 million trees. Many bears have moved rather than compete for food. canonical: https://time.com/3912675/california-bear-invasion/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-09T21:49:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:13.197Z article:section: Science og:title: California Cities Are Bracing for a Bear Invasion og:description: Thanks to the drought, human-bear encounters are rising og:url: https://time.com/3912675/california-bear-invasion/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a4a891771d57b14/69885373a988ca9bd86b2e8a/bear-crossing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3264 og:image:height: 1836 og:image:alt: bear crossing og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: California Cities Are Bracing for a Bear Invasion twitter:description: Thanks to the drought, human-bear encounters are rising twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a4a891771d57b14/69885373a988ca9bd86b2e8a/bear-crossing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Some California Cities Are Bracing for a Bear Invasion > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=97a2179c-1f0e-442f-904d-4a5ce44e4d37&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Wildfires, Beetles and Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): Wildfires, Beetles and Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wYhUFMcF.m3u8) (4:46)  _Published 2009-09-14. In this Climate Central report, Dr. Susan Prichard explains how tree-killing bark beetles flourish in warmer temperatures, leading to severe wildfires_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 9, 2015 9:49 PM UTC  A bear crossing sign on the side of the road in Monrovia, Calif. A bear crossing sign on the side of the road in Monrovia, Calif. Justin Worland  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Jun 9, 2015 9:49 PM UTC MONROVIA, Calif.—June is the beginning of bear season, and California game warden Marty Wall is doing the rounds in this quiet suburb only 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles. In his green pickup truck, the wildlife veteran patrols the streets as he waits for locals to report problem bears. That’s right—bears. Wall, a lieutenant at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW), has 23 years experience with bears and other wildlife. He’s chased them through backyards, across golf courses and on freeways. And, like his counterparts across the state, he is likely to face a rapid increase in the number of bear calls in coming months. The drought in California has killed more than 12 million trees in the forests of Southern California. And while many [small animals that can’t move have died off](http://time.com/3901467/california-drought-wildlife/) as their habitat shrinks, bears and other big game have simply moved rather than compete for food in a cramped forest area. For many of California’s 35,000 black bears, that means venturing into residential neighborhoods, searching for food in garbage and trash. “Accidentally or not we supply what they need to survive. Just about every lawn has a meal in it,” Wall tells me as we roam the foothills in his green pickup truck. “Black bears are just looking for a handout, the easiest path through life.” Whether or not you think bears are on the animal equivalent of welfare, the drought has increasingly brought bears into contact with humans in recent years. Wildlife officials in Central California’s Kern County, for instance, received 1,400 bear calls between June and December of last year, according to DFW wildlife biologist Vicky Monroe. That’s more than the county received in the 20 previous years combined. “No one had any idea of what the drought really meant before last year. We weren’t in a position to be saying more publicly that there were measurable impacts,” Monroe said. “But last season was just insane.” Officials say they expect these numbers to grow as the drought continues to kill off forest land. The ever smaller snowpack—which was at its lowest —may also be affecting hibernation patterns, causing bears to forage for longer than they would otherwise, according to Patricia Kruger, regional threatened and endangered species coordinator at the U.S. Forest Service. Officials have sent experts door-to-door in affected neighborhoods, held town hall meetings and canceled vacations to prepare locals for the day when a bear lands on their doorsteps. Don’t get too worried, though—Wall says that there’s no reason to fear a bear invasion if you’re smart. Bears may stop by your backyard, but they’re more interested in sifting through your garbage for Big Mac leftovers than confronting you. In Wall’s experience, it’s people that tend to turn a bear sighting into a problem. Slapping a bear is bad idea, he tells me. So is trying to take a selfie with a bear. He’s seen locals attempt both. Despite that, there hasn’t been a deadly bear attack in years. Most bears are captured and returned to their natural habitats, but, in cases where bears do attack, Wall and his counterparts respond and the bear is put down. “I like to think of it more as a misunderstanding than an attack,” he says of most interactions between bears and humans. “You have a bear trying to get a sandwich and then gets a finger. And then you call that an attack.” Most Monrovia residents know how to handle bears. The city has more sightings of the animal than all but two cities in California—the mountain towns of Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes. Official street signs are emblazoned with a “bear crossing” warning and most sightings don’t even elicit a phone call to wildlife authorities. Wall, one of four game wardens that works in the area, has become such a presence in the community that the city manager waves hello as he passes in an opposing car. People in other communities where bears could appear in the coming months may not be as welcoming. Wall, who patrols a swathe of Southern California that includes two-thirds of Los Angeles County, says that people unfamiliar with bears are often unforgiving. Killing bears in residential communities is illegal, but it’s hard to prosecute, Wall says. Bears found in residential communities are often riddled with bullet holes. When they survive the bullets—and they often do—they still need to avoid poisoned food. “How many of these bears, now that they have to wander further, are going to come across people and have negative interactions?” Jason Holley, DFW supervising wildlife biologist, asked rhetorically. “That’s what we’re worried about.” ### See How California Is Using Its Diminishing Water Resources  The Los Angeles Aqueduct Cascades, which bring water 223 miles from the Owens River in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains, and 137 miles from the Haiwee Reservoir, are a major source of water for Los Angeles. Seen here in Sylmar, Calif. on May 4, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  The Los Angeles Aqueduct Cascades are seen in Sylmar, Calif. on May 4, 2015\. California's snowpack, which generally provides about a third of the state's water, is at its lowest level on record. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  With the country's most populous state entering the fourth year of a devastating drought, Governor Jerry Brown has ordered an overall 25 percent cut in urban water use though the first statewide mandatory reductions in California's history. The suppliers with the highest per capita water use would have to accept a 36 percent cut. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  A tractor ploughs a field next to a canal in Los Banos, Calif. on May 5, 2015\. California water regulators on Tuesday adopted the state's first rules for mandatory cutbacks in urban water use as the region's catastrophic drought enters its fourth year. However, the state's massive agricultural sector, which the Public Policy Institute of California says uses 80 percent of human-related consumption, has been exempted from cutbacks. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  A worker walks through farm fields in Los Banos, Calif. on May 5, 2015\. Urban users will be hardest hit, even though they account for only 20 percent of state water consumption. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  Approximately 9 million acres of farmland in California are irrigated, representing roughly 80% of all human water use. But, farm production and food processing only generate about 2% of California’s gross state product, down from about 5% in the early 1960s. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  "In the Central Valley, where most agricultural water use occurs, the failure to manage groundwater sustainably limits its availability as a drought reserve. The increase in perennial crops—which need to be watered every year—has made the region even more vulnerable," the Public Policy Institute of California states. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  Central Valley farmers have witnessed land sinking by as much as 3 feet, San Francisco Gate reports, as water agencies tap underground reservoirs at unprecedented depths. Water pours into a canal in Los Banos, Calif., May 5, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  Livestock products, including meat, dairy and eggs, account for more than a quarter of California's agricultural sector, a $12.5 billion industry, according to the USDA. Cattle are among the most water-hungry livestock, consuming an average of106 gallons per pound of beef. Cattle are seen at Harris Ranch in Coalinga, Calif. on May 5, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  California's planting of staple crops such as cotton, corn, oats, barley, wheat, rice, and sunflowers will total 1.72 million acres in 2015, down from 1.90 million acres in 2014, according to data from the National Drought Mitigation Center. A wheat field is seen in Los Banos, Calif. May 5, 2015. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters  A water protest sign is seen in Los Banos, California, United States May 5, 2015\. Central Valley counties suffer some of the highest unemployment rates in the state, topping out at more than 20% in Colusa County, according to the state's Legislative Analyst's Office. Lucy Nicholson—Reuters ## Transcript >> I find it amazing that such a small non- descript little beetle can reeks a tabic on forest systems. >> A research scientist at the University of Washington Dr. Susan Prichard studies the effects of disturbances like insect outbreaks and wildfires on forests. Over the last two decades, more trees in western forests are being killed by bark beetles and there have been more fires. But, is climate change to blame? >> Each one of these, yellow sap concentration is an actual site where a mountain pine beetle as board into the bark of the logical pine and then it will lay eggs and its larvae will actually feed on the cambium tissue, the living tissue of the tree. So here, each one of the centers is an example of the tree trying to pitch out the beetle. The actual sap of the tree has [ unk ] that are toxic to the beetles and then also they are physically pushed the beetle out of the tree. >> Wow. So this tree is literally just fighting for its life. >> It is fighting for its life. That's not an overstatement actually. So, I can tell that unfortunately for this particular tree, it's not winning the fight. >> Beetles thrive in warmer weather. Mild winters, earlier springs and longer summers mean more beetles. >> So there is a climate linked for mountain pine beetle for sure. And what we're noticing in Washington State even today that in the last 20 years with warmer climate, warmer [ unk ] climate, there has been an increased incidents of mountain pine beetle. >> A resident of the quaint town in Winthrop in Central Washington, Dr. Prichard also says, warmer temperatures across the Western US have made drought stressed trees more vulnerable to beetle attack. >> Now if you have a vigorous tree, it will have enough defenses to pitch out some beetles so the beetles will attack the more weakened trees and maybe kill them. In an outbreak there could be, you know, acres upon acres of host trees where that there would be weakened, maybe drought, stressed, dense trees for these beetles to build up enough of a population that then they could start spreading into both weakened trees and healthy trees. >> Scientists have already made a definitive connection between warming temperatures and increase fires in the west. The connection between beetles and fire is less understood but many scientists like Prichard believe the combination of beetles, warming and drying forest will pre- dispose Washington State Forests to more fire. This year, more than 800 wild fires ignited in Washington State well above the yearly average. Prichard says in an outbreak of bark beetles starting in the 1990's let accumulations of dead trees priming the forests for a big fire event, which is exactly what occurred in August 2006 when the so- called tripod complex fire swept through the Okanogan Wenatchee forest destroying 180 thousand acres and costing $ 80 million. >> I actually saw the initial big smoke flumes. And if you were to look across the valley floor, you would not have been able to see even the trees. >> For Prichard, large fire events have been part of the landscape for millennium, vital to the renewal of the forest. She's concern about the future with an increase frequency of hot, dry weather, beetle outbreak and big fires. >> It actually reset the stage. It is a very natural cycle in this ecosystem. However, we are also facing unprecedented changes and climate. Here's an example of a Douglas first seedling, and you can see that it, you know, smaller in stature, it's very shallowly rooted in the soil and it's vulnerable to drought so as the top soil dries. It might dry out and die. So if we have more high severity fire then it might mean that trees that ever existed here for hundreds of not thousands of years are not able to success or able to produce. >> But since understanding the effect of disturbances on forest is her passion and work, Dr. Prichard has no plans to leave Central Washington anytime soon. They choose to live in a fire prone landscape. I think that's an important thing for people to actually take in to consideration when they wanna live in the great outdoors. The great outdoors in the Inland west means fire in the summers. >> Prichard and other scientist say climate change is at the very least partly responsible. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3912675/california-bear-invasion/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3912675/california-bear-invasion/"},"headline":"Why Some California Cities Are Bracing for a Bear Invasion","datePublished":"2015-06-09T21:49:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:41:13.197Z","description":"Blacks bears are rocking the suburbs","url":"https://time.com/3912675/california-bear-invasion/","keywords":["Drought","animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a4a891771d57b14/69885373a988ca9bd86b2e8a/bear-crossing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2a4a891771d57b14/69885373a988ca9bd86b2e8a/bear-crossing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"bear crossing","caption":"A bear crossing sign on the side of the road in Monrovia, Calif.","creditText":"Justin Worland","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/drought/","name":"Drought"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3912675/california-bear-invasion/","name":"Why Some California Cities Are Bracing for a Bear Invasion"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Wildfires, Beetles and Climate Change","description":"In this Climate Central report, Dr. Susan Prichard explains how tree-killing bark beetles flourish in warmer temperatures, leading to severe wildfires","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/wYhUFMcF/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2009-09-14T03:15:02.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wYhUFMcF.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3912675/california-bear-invasion/","duration":"PT4M46S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3912675/california-bear-invasion/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```