Karelian Bear Dogs Sputnik, Dazzle and Rooster chase a 5-year-old, 225-pound black bear Monday near Hobart Reservoir after it was trapped near Aspen Park in the Gardnerville Ranchos Sunday afternoon. Bear dogs are commonly used as an 'aversive conditioning' tool during releases like this one to hopefully lessen bear/human interactions in the future.
A 225-pound black bear was darted after he was treed and darted near Ranchos Aspen Park on Sunday.
Nevada Wildlife Biologist Carl Lackey said the bear was released near Hobart Lake on Monday.
Lackey said that residents had been reporting sightings of the bear, who was climbing fences from backyard to backyard on Sunday morning.
A deputy responding to reports found the 5-year-old male up a tree and called wildlife officials.
“We went up and darted him,” Lackey said.
As the summer winds up, bears will be looking to gorge on whatever they can find in preparation for hibernation.
One source of food for bears, fruit trees across the Valley are mostly barren due to a late frost.
“That’s going to be bad news bears,” Lackey said. “As the summer progresses there are going to be more bears in town.”
Lackey said the bear captured on Sunday wasn’t one that had been captured before.
After it was tagged, it was released with the help of Karelian bear dogs Sputnik, Dazzle and Rooster.
The goal is to make the bear afraid of human contact, in hopes that he doesn’t come back into settled areas.
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