ENVIRONMENT : As Bears Awake From Winter Sleep, Experts Issue Warnings
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It’s spring, and that means that hibernating black bears are shaking off their winter sleep in the Angeles National Forest and elsewhere.
Biologists for the state Department of Fish and Game estimate the black bear population in California at 25,000. Black bears, which weigh about 400 pounds, vary in color from coal black to brown to cinnamon.
In the Angeles, they are dubbed “trash bears” because of their desire for food scraps and other discards in garbage cans. Such bears often refuse to hunt and gather in the wild, and instead rely on human’s food, limiting their chance of survival, biologists said. Also, hungry bears can turn aggressive and bears just waking up from a winter’s sleep are especially famished and grumpy, biologists said.
Wildlife biologists issued these warnings:
* Do not feed bears or leave scraps out for them.
* Put trash in tightly tied bags.
* Store food in secure containers.
* Thoroughly clean picnic areas.
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