Bear cub found in De Luz now in Lake Tahoe

“Temecula,” the male black bear cub so named because he was discovered by some girls on a remote dirt road in the northern part of De Luz on April 8, now resides in Lake Tahoe and is part of an educational program that teaches public awareness of bears.

“After some deliberation, Temecula is being used by our licensed educational facilitator,” said Harry Morse, public information officer, California Department of Fish and Game. “Temecula has already gone out to classes, and to community meetings, to show people what a bear looks like, its size and an explanation of [their] habits.”

Overall, the program stresses the dangers associated with bears near homes. Another area of focus, Morse said, is explaining the importance of limiting human interaction with black bears.

Bear activity in Lake Tahoe has made national headlines and this is why educational programs, such as the one Temecula is in, has been critical for the safety of humans and bears.

Temecula was roughly 10 weeks old and weighed approximately four pounds when he was discovered in De Luz. “He was found by two girls and they thought that he was a puppy,” said Morse.

After the bear cub was taken into custody by The Fund for Animals Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Ramona, the California Department of Fish and Game looked into the oddities of the incident; however, a full investigation was never launched.

“We do not have confirmation of the mother bear being in De Luz,” said Morse. “The consensus is that the mother was scared off, for whatever reason.”

Charles Traisi, manager of The Fund for Animals Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, found the bear cub incident in De Luz to be “highly questionable” in nature.

“Little neonatal bears do not wander away from their mothers and mother bears do not wander far from their babies,” said Traisi. “Our conclusion was that the mother bear was dead, and how or why is anyone’s guess.”

The morning after Temecula was taken into custody at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, a sheriff’s deputy searched the area where the cub was found.

“They did a thorough search and there was no evidence of a mother bear,” said Traisi, “and there should have been a sick, injured or dead mother bear very close to where the cub was found.”

The cub, he said, is unlikely to have wandered away from his mother’s body or scent.

Another question arose at the facility when it was discovered that the cub was very comfortable being handled by humans.

“ are instinctively scared, since they are away from their mothers and are in the hands of humans,” he said. “This baby cub was totally people oriented.”

The cub showed no signs of nervousness or stress, Traisi reported.

Furthermore, Traisi said, no record exists of bear activity where the cub was found, or west of Interstate 15 in that area in general. “Now, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be, but this was the first incident,” he stated.

Based on the circumstances involved and observations made, Traisi believes there are many unanswered questions involving Temecula’s discovery.

The population of black bears in California is growing, Morse said, and are being found in places they have never been known to inhabit.

“In less than 20 years, the population of bears has gone from 10,000 to over 30,000 in California,” he said. “We just had a bear incident in a drugstore parking lot in Lancaster – that’s out in the desert. Things have really changed.”

Although it continues to remain a mystery how little Temecula made his way to De Luz, many are relieved to know he is safe, healthy and in good hands.

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