Bears in the San Jacintos

[Ulysses]

So I ran into a local wildlife expert in Idyllwild today and posed a question that's been on my mind. Where does he think the bears that inhabit the San Gorgonio Wilderness have fled to as a result of the Lake Fire. Without missing a beat he replied the San Jacinto Mountains. He was absolutely serious.

I have my doubts, but this guy is pretty credible (masters in Wildlife Management and been in the area a long time).

Be interesting to see. I sure hope there weren't any bear fatalities in the fire.

[Wildhorse]

I have thought that the 10 has been a barrier, but they could use underpasses in Banning I guess.

I imagine they will be under much stress. I wonder if they will be helped to relocate.

[zippetydude]

How cool would that be! Bears were, of course, native to the San Jacinto area as well, and while this fire is an otherwise horrible event, what if the bears repopulated their old home? Still bears on San G, but now bears back in San J. I'd be thrilled as long as there's a way for them to survive and the repopulation was sustained and healthy. We'll see.

z

[cynthia23]

Well I remember that six or so years ago there was a bear in the San J's, which (I think it was) Fish and Wildlife eventually relocated over to San G. So somehow it made it over here.

I'm not as enthused as Zip about running into one, but I certainly hope the ones in the fire area have escaped unscathed.

[Pitownpi]

i would think that the area around the diversion dams & over Mill Creek JO will be more concentrated with wildlife.
as will Forest Falls, hope folks get their bear-proof trash cans ready!

[jimson]

I have a friend who lives in Forest Falls who has reported that indeed the animal population- especially raccoons- has greatly increased since the fire. He thinks this is likely to animals being pushed out of their territories. The dogs in the neighborhood barking in response has gotten pretty hard on the sleep!

[bluerail]

Over the last 4 years I have found plenty of evidence of bears on the north face of San Jacinto, and know about one being knocked down by a truck on 111, I know they get under I-10

[halhiker]

They've had bears in both Snow Creek and Palm Springs before but they've always put them back as far as I know. They warn about bears in Whitewater but I'd imagine the bears who migrated away from the fire probably went to other places since the San Jacintos are a pretty far commute. I'd head north to the fertile grounds of Big Bear if I were a bear. It's a long hard haul up to anyplace where there's food or water in the San Jacintos.

[hiiker]

Here's a similar post from a few years back.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2482#p21471

[Hikin_Jim]

Bears were, of course, native to the San Jacinto area

Actually, no, at least not Black Bears. Black Bears were not native to Southern California. The only native bears in this area were Grizzly Bears. Hunters imported Black Bears for sport into the local Southern California Mountains. For whatever reason they never got into the San Jacintos.

HJ