Is there a bear in the malibu hills?

This week we had a very reliable sighting of a bear in Cheeseboro Canyon, which is just north of the 101 freeway in the Simi Hills. Having bears in this area is rare, although not unheard of... farther north in the Santa Susana Mountains and in the Las Padres area, bears are common The Cheeseboro Canyon area is a rather stark grassland this time of year with little in the way of berries, grubs, and other things bears like. However, today we had another, uncomfirmed report of the bear east of Las Virgines canyon, SOUTH of highway 101! Although the sighting was not official and can not be verified for sure, bears are pretty hard to misidentify... so this means it is very possible that there is a bear in the Santa Monica Mountains (Malibu Hills) right now!

The area has some large, relatively pristine areas, such as the 'Big Wild' around Topanga State Park in the east, the Malibu Canyon/Castro Crest area, Zuma-Trancas canyon, and Boney Ridge/Point Mugi. Although chaparral, the dominant vegetation type, is not prime habitat for black bears, it is propable that a bear would survive in these areas if it found one of the larger parcels. However, bears tend to be lazy and like human food, and with the large temptation in the rather populated area, there is a good chance the bear could become habituated to human food and end up being removed from the area, or dying. Bears which lose their fear of humans sometimes end up being shot, and even if this is not the case, a bear which likes hanging around settled areas is at risk of being hit by a car. Anyway, this guy (or girl) has a good chance of surviving, so we wish the best for it. Perhaps it will even end up crossing paths with one of the handful of mountain lions which still roam the area.

One of the most amazing things about this is that the bear managed to cross highway 101 - a major interstate with constant traffic at all hours of the night. Most likely the bear either crawled through a small culvert or waltzed on across an overpass. Bears are less skittish than mountain lions, so the latter is certainly possible.

I hope it makes its way down to Solstice... imagine a bear wandering about near my house!