Activists sound off on CA bill that would bring back 'cruel' black bear hunting practice

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- There is outcry from activists working to keep California's black bears safe in response to a bill that would bring back the use of hound dogs to hunt bears.

The practice called 'hounding' was banned more than a decade ago.

"It is cruel in the worst of ways," Ann Bryant of the Bear League said.

Bryant and the Bear League are leading the opposition to Assembly 1038, introduced by Assembly member Heather Hadwick, representing Tahoe.

"It's a ploy to bring back hounding; that is basically what this is," Bryant said.

MORE: Number of bears being hit and killed by cars in Tahoe continues to soar

Officials are warning drivers in the Lake Tahoe area this Labor Day weekend that bears are still getting killed by cars at high rates.

Hounding is the practice of putting GPS collars on packs of dogs who then chase down bears for hours, eventually retreating up a tree and that's when the hunters step in.

"Then they look up, then they shoot the bear because like I said, he can't fly away,, he doesn't have wings," Bryant said. "They shoot him. And then he tumbles down through the branches, sometimes just breaking bones on the way down, getting badly injured, sometimes dying on the way down or from the gunshot, and then the dogs attack him."

In a statement, assembly member Hadwick says the bill is intended to control the black bear population, reading in part:

"California's black bear population is out of control, more than doubling in the past decade. Human-bear encounters have skyrocketed as a result, leading to ecological disruption, property damage, and the first confirmed fatal black bear attack in the state."

Bryant opposes this statement.

"This is not a bill that even remotely addresses any bear-human conflict issue, any population issue with bears," she said.

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Last week, a bear that's been breaking into homes in the Tahoe area was captured and sent to a Colorado sanctuary.

According to the state's 2024 Bear Conservation Plan, there is strong evidence that black bear populations have been stable over the past decade.

"The only population that's increased is the human population within bear territory," Bryant said.

Bryant pointed to people as being largely responsible for the bump in bear sightings and conflicts.

"Why don't we clean up our trash issues and stop putting bird feeders out and not treat them anymore and yell at them and stomp our feet? You get out of here. You go on. You get out of here. We can do that by ourselves. We don't need hounds," she said.

Hardwick's bill hasn't yet made it to committee and is expected to undergo hearings in the coming weeks.