Global Courant
A bear was killed crossing Highway 5 near Castaic on Thursday evening, the second fatality in the area in a week, according to authorities.
The black bear was hit by multiple vehicles on the 5 Freeway off Templin Highway north of Santa Clarita in Los Angeles County around 10:30 p.m., said Tim Daly, spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The agency doesn’t know the bear’s sex or place of origin, Daly said, but biologists have collected hair samples to catalog the animal in a nationwide database.
A black bear cub was killed Monday on the 14 Freeway near Soledad Canyon Road northeast of Santa Clarita, according to the California Highway Patrol. The cub was hit by at least two vehicles; one of the drivers stopped to report the collision, according to the California Highway Patrol.
A black bear was struck and killed on June 1 on the 5 Freeway near Gormon, about 30 miles north of Castaic, Daly said.
“It looks like more of this is happening in that area,” Daly said. “One possible reason is that the bear population in the Los Angeles County area is larger. There are more.”
The three bears were killed on highways next to the Angeles National Forest.
State officials say the total number of bears hit by vehicles may be underestimated because not all collisions are recorded. Law enforcement is not required to contact the California Department of Fish and Wildlife when a wild animal is hit by a vehicle, Daly said. The agency hopes to increase contact with law enforcement to better document these incidents.
Wildlife experts say there’s no reason why so many black bears try to cross highways in the same area. Earlier this month, a black bear strolled along the beach in Malibu after descending from the Santa Monica Mountains. That bear was unharmed after frolicking near the ocean.
Toogee Sielsch, an expert on urbanized black bears, said animals that live close to humans tend to understand traffic.
“Urbanized bears really know how to stop, look, listen, and then cross,” said Sielsch, who has studied wildlife around South Lake Tahoe.
If a bear family tries to cross the road, the mother may go first, after making sure it is safe. She’ll cross over and wait for her cubs on the other side, but the cubs tend to run away when they feel comfortable, Sielsch said.
“That’s what often happens when cubs are hit and killed by cars,” he added.
The bears killed near Castaic may not have been familiar with traffic or reacting to the past year’s unusual weather, including extreme heat and record-breaking snow and rainfall, said Beth Pratt, regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation. . The bears could also be thrown off course if someone put up a fence along their usual route, Pratt said.
“Whatever it is, like all wildlife, they will follow the food,” she said.
The nonprofit National Wildlife Federation has raised millions of dollars for a wildlife crossing on Highway 101 to bridge the Santa Monica Mountains to the Simi Hills. The effort was inspired by mountain lions migrating down highways in search of food or a mate.
Pratt said the bear attacks near Castaic raise concerns about the need for a wildlife crossing in that area.
“Whatever the motivation for their crossing, these deaths underline why these roads are such a danger to wildlife,” Pratt said. “Developments are continuing, roads are getting bigger, there is more traffic on the roads. We are further damaging their habitat.”
