Bear-y good neighbors: humans and animals are learning to live together in an expanding LA — SkimNews
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- Monrovia, California, dubbed the state's "bear capital," sits at the boundary of the Angeles National Forest and is seeing surging human-bear interactions as suburbs expand into bear habitat, home to several hundred of California's 50,000-70,000 black bears.
- Brian Gordon and his partner moved to Monrovia four years ago and now share their backyard pool with a family of bears, documenting the encounters on the PoolBearLife Instagram account while keeping trash cans clean and giving the animals space.
- California is on track for a record-setting year of reported bear encounters in 2026, according to Alex Heeran of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, with September being peak season as bears enter hyperphagia to pack on calories before hibernation.
- Bears foraging near humans reproduce more often and at higher rates due to access to calorie-dense human food, per UCLA's Wilson Sherman, because the calories in a half-eaten pizza far exceed the effort of foraging for acorns and ants.
- The 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires were linked to depleted natural food sources, pushing bears near LA to seek calories in neighborhoods, while warmer summers from the climate crisis are also expanding the bears' foraging range.
- "Blondie," a mother bear in Monrovia, was euthanized earlier in 2025 after she swiped at two residents causing minor injuries; her two cubs are being raised in captivity for eventual release, prompting a memorial walk through the city.
- Doorbell camera footage of bears going viral builds empathy for wildlife but risks "Disney-fying" them, per Sherman — black bears aren't aggressive by nature but can cause damage and should be given their space.
Why it matters: With 2026 on track for record bear encounters and California suburbs pushing deeper into the Angeles National Forest, foothill communities face a recurring coexistence test: Monrovia's PoolBearLife shows it can work when residents remove attractants, but the euthanization of "Blondie" — whose cubs are now in captivity — shows how quickly conflicts can escalate when they don't.
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