SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS Radio) -- Numerous recent sightings of black bears in Northern California neighborhoods may not be an isolated situation.
California's population of black bears has tripled in the last 30 to 40 years, and bears have learned that hanging around humans can be a very efficient lifestyle.
Black bears are "highly adapted to eat about anything," said California Department of Fish and Game supervising wildlife biologist Jason Holley in a KCBS Radio interview.
According to Holley, bears need about eight hours of foraging time in the wild to satisfy their daily caloric needs. They can easily grab that many calories, he said, in two hours of ransacking garbage cans or ice chests.
"As summer goes on, expect to see more bears," predicted Holley.
California is now home to an estimated 38,000 to 40,000 black bears.
Within the last week, bears have been spotted in Vacaville, Rohnert Park and on the UC Davis campus. In the Davis incident, the young male bear was tranquilized, taken to an isolated wildland area and released.
