YREKA, Calif. (KCBS) — They might be cute and cuddly, but a bear is not a legal pet to own, and one North California man learned that the hard way after he admitted to taking two bear cubs from their den in 2019.
Cody Dylon Setzer, 29, admitted to taking the cubs from their den and mother, and has been charged with possession of a prohibited species to which he pleaded guilty, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a Tuesday statement. Setzer also pleaded guilty to obstructing wildlife officers.
Setzer didn’t work alone when taking the month-old bear cubs, the department officials said, explaining that he was assisted by a coworker who the department did not name in the statement.
The pair found the bears in a collapsed tree, taking them to raise as pets, but after it was too difficult, they contacted wildlife officers.
When Setzer initially took the cubs in on March 19, 2019, he told officers that he had found the bears along Highway 263 north of Yreka in Siskiyou County, the department said. However, officers were suspicious of his story because they found no bear tracks or habitat when visiting the site.
Capt. Patrick Foy of the department’s law enforcement divisions shared why the story seemed murky with the Associated Press.
“Bear cubs are 100% dependent upon the sow, and if they had been wandering on their own, they wouldn’t have survived,” he said.
Further investigation led to the department finding the actual den site about 90 miles south of where the two said they found the bear cubs, in an area east of Salt Creek and Interstate 5 in Shasta County. Both med had destroyed the den, and according to Foy, the mother was never found.
After Setzer’s coworker confessed to wildlife officers and cooperated with the investigation, the bears were taken by the CDFW’s Wildlife Health Laboratory in Rancho Cordova. They were then turned over for rehabilitation to Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, the youngest cubs the facility had ever helped.
The bears were set free in their native Shasta County habitat on April 28, 2020, after growing old enough to survive on their own.
Setzer pleaded guilty in Siskiyou Superior Court and has been ordered to pay $2,290 in fines and complete 200 hours of community service.
He will now be on probation until November 2022, and until the probation is over, he is not allowed to hunt or fish. He will also avoid a 90 day stay in jail if he completes probation, the department said.
Anyone who witnesses or knows of a poaching or polluting incident —or any fish and wildlife violation — is asked to immediately cal the toll free CalTIP number 1-888 334-2258. It's available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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