The National Park Service released photos taken by a camera trap of a black bear in Malibu Creek State Park on July 26. This is likely the first black bear to enter the Malibu area in over 14 years.
“Generally, we don’t run into them at all [in Malibu],” Angeles District Superintendent for California State Parks Craig Sap said. “The best we usually hear is a bobcat or something, but that doesn’t mean they’re not out there.”
Black bears are non-endangered animals that don’t pose a risk to humans. They are likely to come near human infrastructure in search of food, specifically garbage cans, but experts say it is important to keep a bear from acclimating to humans.
“A fed bear is a dead bear,” California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Andrew Hughan said. “If [Malibu residents] let it become a neighborhood pet, it may have to be killed.”
Hughan repeated the importance of not leaving out food or water for the bear. In fact, he suggested people who encounter the bear should act as aggressively as possible. Creating loud noises by banging metal cans, or throwing rocks at the bear, will persuade it to retreat into the wild.
“You got to let nature take its course. The bear will be fine,” Hughan said.
Fish and Wildlife directs concerned citizens to their “Keep Me Wild” page, which gives brief tips on how to avoid encounters with wild bears and what to do in case of emergency situations.
