Deputy's shooting of bear at Tahoe criticized

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. (AP) - A bear advocacy group is criticizing the fatal shooting of a black bear at Lake Tahoe by a sheriff's deputy.

The Washoe County deputy shot and killed the 600-pound bear that rushed him Tuesday after wildlife officials tried to flush the hibernating animal out from under a home in Incline Village.

Ann Bryant of the Tahoe-based BEAR League says her group has freed numerous bears from enclosed spaces and never needed to harm one. She says the bear's killing was unnecessary and unethical.

Wildlife officials say the 10-year-old male bear was a nuisance animal that would have been euthanized anyway.

They say the bear was accustomed to eating out of trash cans, and that's why bear-proof trash containers are important in bear country.