Sierra Madre residents frustrated, worried over more bear encounters
Bears are adapting to urban areas quickly.
SIERRA MADRE (KABC) -- Long-time Sierra Madre resident Pat Alcorn is frustrated by the growing number of black bears.
According to Alcorn, the bears have shown up on her property three times in the last year.
"I was coming down the front steps into the mailbox and the bear was apparently just right behind me and into the kitchen," Alcorn said.
Alcorn and her husband bought an airhorn as their main source of protection.
"We hadn't had any problems for years and then all of a sudden maybe about three years ago they just started showing up," Alcorn said.
And there really are more bears here, according to Rebecca Barboza with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
With an abundance of garbage cans and barbeques, it's an easy life for these bears.
"The bears have kind of adapted to this kind of urban environment. In fact, they seem to kind of prefer it because it's a lot easier to forage in garbage cans and bird feeders and trees than it is to forage in the wild," Barboza said.
This week, the Sierra Madre City Council voted to push the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to create and enhance new policies to protect both the residents and the bears.
