California received a record amount of snowfall, leading to a built up snowpack. The amount of snow that remains has led to a scarcity of natural food resources for California’s bear population.

Bears emerge from hibernation in the spring. They immediately start looking for food to replenish their bodies, according to wildlife expert Steve Searles who joined “Inside the Issues” host Alex Cohen to talk about the snowpack’s effect on bears this year.

“The number one thing is to not feed [bears],” Searles said. “This year has been epic and now there is a dramatic food shortage. There’s no natural foods for them this year right now.”

Known as the “Bear Whisperer,” Searles leads the “don’t feed our bears” campaign in Mammoth Lakes. He said the community is still buried under feet of snow, which means the natural foods for bears won’t be available for months.

“They’ve all dug up — some through 20 feet of snow — to get out of their dens. They come up and it’s just like living on the moon. There is zero food for them,” Searles said.

The lack of resources available means bears will have to be more aggressive with each other to fight to get an adequate amount of food and will spread start going to other areas across the state.

“We’ve already had bears die, we have emaciated bears, these bears are figuring out who’s going to get the limited resources,” Searles adds.

While bears are mainly found in Northern California, Searles is expecting more to be in Southern California. The wildlife expert fears that the lack of resources will cause bears to break into peoples’ homes or RVs. 

“If my son was starving, I’d steal from you and your neighbors and I’m a pretty nice guy,” Searles said.

While bears will try to get into people’s houses to get food, Searles said people shouldn’t worry about having dangerous interactions as long as they take basic safety steps, most importantly is to not feed them.

“If you’re not used to being with bears: just give them their distance, let them pass through, they won’t cause you any harm. But this year will they come and steal your food? it’s very likely,” Searles said.

It is illegal in California to feed large wildlife like bears, however Searles said a lot of research and work done by other states has shown providing a temporary source provided by the state for animals has been beneficial.

“What I promote [is] not feeding them, but in a situation like this so many animals are dying,” Searles said.

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