The controversial story of Victor the bear - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

The controversial story of Victor the bear

Mammoth Lakes, California-Sept. 5, 2024-A 500-pound bear, nicknamed
A 500-pound bear, nicknamed Victor, in a Mammoth Lakes campground. Wildlife officers, who say he was too habituated to people, had the bear shot with a tranquilizer dart and he died.
(Alina Kope)
Share via

Good morning, and welcome to the Essential California newsletter. It’s Saturday, Sept. 14. Here’s what you need to know to start your weekend:

    The controversial story of Victor the bear

    A hulking, 500-pound bear crashed a wine and steak dinner at a Mammoth Lakes campground last month. What happened next set off a heated, wide-ranging debate that, underneath the surface-level facts, raises much bigger questions with no easy answers.

    But I’m getting ahead of myself.

    A photo of a 500-pound bear nicknamed Victor at Mammoth Lakes.
    A 500-pound bear, nicknamed Victor, regularly visited Mammoth Lakes campgrounds.
    (Kathy Spaulding)

    This week my colleague Lila Seidman told the story of the black bear at the center of the debate. Nicknamed Victor, the bear was beloved by locals and known to mooch on meals, which you can see for yourself in this video of Victor’s fateful encounter with the campers.

    Advertisement

    “Don’t spill my wine — that’s all we have!” someone calls out in the video as Victor hunches over a picnic table. Campers off camera can be heard making loud banging noises, trying to scare the bear away.

    Victor then lumbers toward a metal bear box and past a woman standing on a tree trunk. He turns, appearing to notice the woman, and swipes her leg before she flees. The bear doesn’t follow her.

    “And the people who are videotaping this, who have been … kind of cracking jokes throughout this whole thing, they start gasping because it’s very surprising,” Lila says.

    Advertisement

    State wildlife officials ultimately decided to euthanize Victor, a move that set off an intense public backlash, with the local police department receiving hate messages coming from as far away as England.

    A photo of a 500-pound bear nicknamed Victor as he wanders around a campground in Mammoth Lakes.
    Victor was a regular at Mammoth lakeshores, where thousands of visitors come to paddle, fish and picnic. Wildlife officers said he became problematically habituated to people over time.
    (Alina Kope)

    Was Victor’s death justified?

    Advertisement

    Critics say the campers were irresponsible and essentially baited the bear. Other people have railed against wildlife officials and questioned why they didn’t pursue alternative solutions, like moving Victor to another area.

    “We are in the home of these wild animals, not the other way around. This community expects better and accountable behavior towards our wildlife and also to the tourist who disrespect them.,” reads a Change.org petition calling for “justice” that has more than 70,000 signatures.

    Capt. Patrick Foy with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the campers had food out because they were cooking dinner, which isn’t against the law.

    “It was all perfectly reasonable,” he said.

    When deciding how to respond to a bear attack, investigators look at whether the bear was provoked into acting aggressively, my colleague Lila reported. Less than two weeks before the video, Victor caused minor injuries to a man who attempted to take a selfie with the bear. Officers determined that Victor was baited and took no further action.

    The public outrage over Victor’s death didn’t end with his burial. I’ll let you read the story to find out what happens and how the community responds. (I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me teary-eyed.)

    What are you supposed to do when you see a black bear?

    Advertisement

    It may be hard to watch the video with Victor and not wonder how things could have gone differently for both the bear and the campers.

    My colleague Jaclyn Cosgrove this week provided five tips on what to do if you run into a bear in the wild. Among the recommendations is carry bear spray, don’t run and let the bear know you’re there.

    Dangerous bear encounters are rare, Jaclyn writes. But reports of human-bear interactions have been on the rise across the country for decades. About 65,000 black bears are estimated to roam California — almost double from a decade ago.

    The week’s biggest stories

    A photo of former President Donald Trump speaking to reporters at his golf club in Rancho Palos Verdes.
    Donald Trump speaks during a news conference held at Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes on Friday.
    (Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)

    Harris and Trump are in a sprint to the White House after their first — and likely only — debate

    Firefighters are gaining control over destructive Southern California wildfires

    California remains in puzzling ‘earthquake drought’ despite recent shaking

    More big stories


    Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here.

    Advertisement

    What we’re reading

    Dogs in cages are being transported inside a packed white van.
    (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

    Inside California’s brutal underground market for puppies: Neglected dogs, deceived owners, big profits. A Times investigation has found that truckloads of dogs from profit-driven mass breeders pour into the state from the Midwest, feeding an underground market where they are resold by people claiming to be small, local home breeders.

    • Did your dog come from the puppy pipeline? You can find out here.
    • How we reported the story: The Times obtained scores of dog export records, law enforcement and animal control investigative files and federal inspection reports.

    How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to [email protected].


    For your weekend

    A photo of Cantonese-style mooncakes from Kee Wah Bakery.
    Cantonese-style mooncakes from Kee Wah Bakery.
    (Kee Wah Bakery)

    Going out

    Staying in

    How well did you follow the news this week? Take our quiz.

    A collection of photos from this week's news quiz.
    (Times staff and wire photos)
    Advertisement

    Which late-night talk show, hosted by Jimmy Fallon, will shrink to four new episodes a week (instead of five) when the fall TV season starts later this month? Plus nine other questions from our weekly news quiz.

    Have a great weekend, from the Essential California team

    Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor

    Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on latimes.com.

    Advertisement