Bryant seeks arrest of three bear shooters

Megan Michelson
February 9, 2005

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Three men shot and killed a family of bears - a mother and two cubs - Friday after they set up residence underneath a Chamberlands neighborhood home near Tahoma.

Though the homeowners, Russell and Diane Tonda, obtained a depredation permit from the Department of Fish and Game to kill one bear, BEAR League Director Ann Bryant says killing the bears was unnecessary.

What's also at issue is whether or not the three men were allowed to shoot more than one bear within the conditions of the depredation permit.

Friday's incident raises the death count for bears killed by depredation permit in the Tahoe Basin in the past 12 months to 11.

The Tondas, part-time residents from Granite Bay, discovered three weeks ago that their West Shore home had been badly damaged - the kitchen ransacked, furniture destroyed and cabinets broken. Diane said the damage will cost $100,000 to repair.

Suspecting animal behavior, the Tondas contacted the Placer County Sheriff's Office, who instructed them to call Bryant. Bryant arrived at the home and crawled into the space below the pantry, where a trap-door had enabled the animals to enter. With a flashlight, she found a bear lying on a pile of bedding and couch cushions it had presumably dragged down to the basement for nesting material.

Bryant said she offered to scare the bear from its resting place by clearing the snow from the access door and firing a blank shot to chase it outside.

"I told them, 'I can get it out real easy. I've done it many times before,'" Bryant said.

But the Tondas maintain that Bryant advised them to leave the bear alone, saying that if they tried to scare it outside, it would simply return or not be able to survive on its own.

"We had no idea what to do," Diane said in a telephone interview Monday. "We haven't experienced anything like this before."

When the Tondas called their insurance agency to seek reclamation for their damages, the insurance company said they would not inspect the house until the bears were removed. After doing some research on bear removal, Russell said he visited the Department of Fish and Game office in Rancho Cordova. He showed pictures of the damage done to his home and eventually filed for a depredation permit, which allowed him to kill the one bear he thought was living in his basement.

The permit was issued because of the damage done to the house and the fact that the bear was still living on the premises, according to Pat Foy, spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game.

Placer County Sheriff's Sergeant Bill Langdon, who was on the scene, confirmed that the damage to the house had been done by bears.

Although Bryant and the Tondas remained in contact for several weeks after her initial survey, she says she had no idea they had filed for a depredation permit.

After filing for the permit, Russell hired three licensed hunters to remove the bear. Upon crawling into the basement area, the men discovered that there was not just one bear, but three. The men reportedly told deputies and Department of Fish and Game Warden Vada Comacho, who also arrived on the scene, that the bears had charged them, forcing them to kill all three.

Although their permit allowed for the killing of only one bear, the circumstances of the case presumably warranted their shooting the other two bears, Foy said, adding that the Department of Fish and Game will conduct an investigation into the case.

"Whether the bears were trying to attack or were trying to get out, these guys were in between where the bears were and where they wanted to go," Foy said. "That can be a terrifying experience."

Bryant, however, said the killings were unnecessary acts of violence. She plans to seek legal advice in an attempt to have the three men arrested.

Sgt. Langdon said since the killings were reportedly self-defense, any arrest would be unlikely.