Urbanized black bear expert to speak to Carson City Rotarians

It’s spring, and that means our area bears will soon come out of hibernation. Tahoe Urbanized Bear Expert Toogee Sielsch wants residents to do everything they can to keep the bears out of neighborhoods and to limit their human encounters. He will share his knowledge about local bear activity with members of the Rotary Club of Carson City and the public at the club’s next meeting on Tuesday, April 4.

Sielsch has studied the urbanized black bear population around Lake Tahoe for the last 20 years and has developed non-lethal skills to help minimize human/bear conflict issues. “The Lake Tahoe Basin has possibly the highest black bear population density on the planet equal only to the population density in the Great Smoky Mountains,” he explains. “I look forward to sharing my knowledge at the meeting. It’s my goal that everyone living and visiting our bear country will secure everything that could attract a bear to their property.”

Sielsch has been featured in a BBC wildlife documentary as well as dozens of TV news stories, worked on a National Geographic story that was published in June 2022, and is currently working with a filmmaker on a documentary about urbanized black bears.

The April 4^th meeting takes place at noon in the Brewery Arts Center’s Grand Ballroom. Anyone interested in attending should email carsoncitynvrotary@gmail.com. To learn more about the Rotary Club of Carson City visit www.carsonrotary.org.