On Aug. 2, a Reddit user posted a video of a black bear and three cubs on Reddit. That person was driving at night near Lakeside Drive and Holcomb Ranch Lane in south Reno when their headlights illuminated the four bears sprinting across the road.
I’ve seen bears in Tahoe before, on trails and in town. But a bear sighting in Reno gave me pause; it made me confront a natural world that normally feels boxed out by the neon, freeways and strip malls of our urban environment. How often do we think about Reno as being close to wilderness, or the animals within it as needing protection?
The presence of bears actually signifies a conservation success story. Ashley Zeme, public information officer for the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW), explained in a recent interview that black bears are here because they follow the lush vegetation along canyons and waterways down the Carson Range and into town. This behavior is not new. Historically, bears lived across much of northwestern Nevada and near Tonopah, Austin, Elko and Winnemucca. Zeme said that mining and unregulated hunting in the early 1900s nearly killed the populations off, but recent improvements in the bears’ habitat in the Reno/Tahoe area have increased population numbers. According to NDOW estimates from 2023, the state is home to around 700 bears.
“The bears’ population has been growing, but that’s just been decades and decades in the making,” Zeme said.
Biologists at the department don’t believe that presence of bears in and near the city is simply due to increasing numbers of bears. In the drought year of 2022, for example, more bears had to wander farther for food. But today, a combination of bear repopulation and Reno’s rapid growth means that the humans and bears are crossing paths more often.
Each year, the NDOW receives an average of 500 to 700 bear calls. Washoe County (which includes Incline Village) accounts for 46% of these; Douglas County accounts for 29%; Carson City 15%; and Lyon County 8%. On the day before my call with Zeme in early August, she said the department had received a few calls that week about bears around Plumb Lane.
“It is pretty common, especially at night,” she said.
Zeme said to expect bears in the communities surrounding and built onto the Carson Range—including Caughlin Ranch and Galena—and that they might travel as far east as Damonte Ranch.
“We’re not shocked when we see that,” she said.
Bears rejoice in the stockpiles of human-placed food sources—especially before hibernation, around late August and early September, when they need about 20,000 calories a day.
Bears cross the threshold between open and urban spaces via waterways that meander through neighborhoods, like Alum Creek and the Steamboat Ditch. They rejoice in the stockpiles of human-placed food sources like fruit trees, bird feeders and garbage cans—especially before hibernation, around late August and early September, when they need about 20,000 calories a day.
“That’s, like, equivalent to 60 cheeseburgers,” Zeme said with a chuckle.
“A fed bear is a dead bear” is a common saying around mountain towns like Truckee. This means that when humans leave food or trash available to bears, bears begin to associate humans and human spaces (cars, houses, etc.) with food. Their fear of humans decreases, and they become bolder, opening the door to bear-human conflict and possible euthanasia for the bear.
“We get public-safety incidents in Reno from time to time,” Zeme said, noting that the department does its best to capture and release these so-called problem bears. “But ultimately, we need the community to live responsibly in bear country by securing all attractants.”
Ninety percent of the bear calls the NDOW receives involve bears getting into unsecured trash bins at private residences; a simple solution is to secure trash. Waste Management offers bear-proof garbage cans. Existing customers qualify, and there is no waitlist to get a new container.
NDOW stresses the importance of minding bird feeders and fruit trees as well as trash. While bird feeders might get you a front-row seat to a blue jay or warbler sighting, they provide bears with a cache of high-density fat and calories. The department recommends taking bird feeders down at dusk and replacing them at dawn, as most Reno bear visits occur at night.
“Another option is to actually scatter the seeds on the ground,” Zeme said, “because the birds will still get to them and pick them up, where a bear wouldn’t take time to find every little seed if it was scattered on the ground.”
Lisa Nunley, general manager of Caughlin Ranch Home Owners’ Association, noted that residents are prohibited from planting fruit trees in their yards. The NDOW also discourages the planting of fruit trees, but if you already have one, the department recommends cleaning ripe fruit immediately from branches and the ground below.
If you see a bear in the city, Zeme recommends calling the NDOW bear hotline at 775-688-BEAR (2327).