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The unofficial mascot for a bear advocacy group, known as “Sunny,” was found dead on a beach on the west shore of Lake Tahoe on Monday. Authorities said that the bear was shot and killed sometime Sunday night.

Ann Bryant, founder and executive director of the BEAR League, said the bear’s name was Sunny and that she was a “gentle daytime bear who liked people.”

Bryant said Sunny had a habit of crawling through open windows and doors to find food, but had never broken into a house or been aggressive with a human being.

A BEAR League posting said Sunny was killed by “one gunshot to her back and she suffered terribly, blood all over the rocks and sand.”

The California Department of Fish and Game stated that the local warden conducted interviews in the community of Homewood on Monday and that the bear’s remains were collected for forensic analysis.

“It is a misdemeanor to shoot a bear without the proper permits and this can result in a fine and jail time,” Fish and Game spokesman Kyle Orr said.

Ann Bryant noted that the bear’s body was found near a home where she had a confrontation with an angry property owner last Wednesday. Bryant had been called by neighbors of the property owner, when Sunny was spotted in an adjacent lot, with vodka and potato chips that she had taken from a cooler that had been left on the property owner’s porch. Bryant tried to calm down the property owner, who was aiming a gun at the bear and advised him that shooting bears was illegal. The homeowner did not respond positively to bear safety tips, like keeping food secured and stored out of sight.

The Sacramento Bee‘s efforts to reach the homeowner were unsuccessful.

According to Orr, individuals are allowed to shoot wild animals only if they can provide proof that the animal is damaging their property or has been proved dangerous. In such cases, a person must display evidence to the Department of Fish and Game in order to obtain a permit. Less than a dozen permits have been issued in the Tahoe area so far this year.

In situations where a wild animal is killed without a permit, California law allows individuals to act to defend themselves only if they are being threatened by wildlife.

-Bill at

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