Heavenly’s journey to SWCC began in 2014 when he was around a year old. He wasn’t hibernating when he should have been and instead frequently visited the Heavenly Ski Resort near Lake Tahoe.
After being found injured by a ski lift, he was taken to local rehabbers to recover. After he had recovered, he was successfully released back into the wild, though Heavenly continued to return to the resort. Deemed a “nuisance bear” and facing euthanasia, SWCC stepped up to offer him a safe, permanent home.
While we’re deeply grateful to have Heavenly as part of our family, the wild is where bears truly belong, and it’s often human conflict that interferes with a bear’s wild life. Most bear conflicts happen when people unintentionally feed bears, usually through unsecured garbage, bird feeders, or food left around campsites. If human food is easy to access, a bear may return to the area, associating people and developed spaces with easy food sources.
Once this happens, it creates a heartbreaking cycle. Bears naturally roam huge territories, sometimes traveling 40-50 miles or more. Even when wildlife officials relocate problem bears, they can find their way back to areas with people once they’ve lost their fear of humans. Like Heavenly, these bears often face life-threatening situations when they can no longer live safely alongside human communities.
What can you do to help?
– Secure garbage
– Store pet food indoors
– Hang bird feeders at least 10 feet high and stop feeding birds if bears are in the area
– Clean barbecues thoroughly and remove all food sources from campsites
Heavenly’s story shows us both the complex challenges wildlife face in our changing world and why taking simple prevention steps matters so much. Every bear that stays wild and wary of humans gets to live the life they were meant to live, and that’s always our hope.
April 2025