Usual outcry lacking over killing of bear at Lake Tahoe

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — A bear killing at Lake Tahoe is unusual mostly because of what didn't happen: There's been no outcry from advocates known for criticizing authorities they say are too quick to resort to shooting animals.

Leaders of the BEAR League say they understand why an El Dorado County sheriff's deputy shot a black bear that became aggressive last week after trying for weeks to break into a number of homes in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Sheriff's Lt. Bryan Golmitz met with the Homewood, California-based group Friday, saying the bear estimated to weigh 700 to 800 pounds refused to respond to attempts to scare it off, including making loud noises and firing bean bags at the animal. He said three deputies responding to the call Wednesday had no choice but to shoot when the bear appeared to charge them.

"The deputies perceived it as a threat to their safety," Golmitz said. "I truly with my heart believe they did the best they could."

The deputies' actions were "perfectly understandable," Ann Bryant, executive director of the BEAR League, told the Tahoe Daily Tribune (http://tinyurl.com/hw6383x ) after the meeting.

"It was probably an unfortunate misreading of what the bear's intent was," she said, adding that the animal likely was looking for an escape route. "It just happened to be right in the path of where one of the officers was standing."

Fellow group member Toogee Sielsch agreed.

"This shooting was . I don't want to use the term justified, but understandable," he said.

Golmitz said the sheriff's office has responded to 177 calls about nuisance bears this year with no others ending in killings. That's an average of about one call every 45 hours since Jan. 1.

He described the three deputies as "very experienced" both in law enforcement and handling bears. He said one of them called to say he was "truly upset," and they're interested in working with the group to further train officers on future incidents.