Altadenans are no strangers to animal sightings — there are peacocks and parrots aplenty around town — but news of a coyote and black bear palling around town together recently has locals talking.
First introduced to the public via a clip posted to social media by the Altadena Sheriff’s Station, the duo have been spotted together multiple times, munching on garbage and patrolling the foothill streets left mostly desolate by the Eaton fire in January.
While seeing a bear or coyote isn’t abnormal in Altadena, observing them together is surprising, says L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Garza, whose partner took the video of the unlikely pair when they responded to a call about the bear in late June. “They were kind of just walking and hanging out together, which was really interesting,” he says. “I think that because of the fires, both animals have lost their natural habitat so they’re down here looking for water and food, but seeing them together painted this picture of them being just two friends, trying to get along and checking out the neighborhood.”
Altadena resident Raimy Rosenduft says she captured the pair a week or so later on her front door camera (experts believe it’s the same couple). In her clip, the bear and the coyote are seemingly enjoying the spoils of a spilled garbage can, surveying the neighborhood while they weigh their next move.
While wildlife experts say it’s understandable that viewers may see the clips and think “check out this pair of cute, furry best friends,” they’re quick to note that what’s going on between the two species seems to indicate more toleration than affection.
“You can humanize your dog or your cat, but I think even that’s a stretch,” says Steve Searles, a wildlife expert and author who Animal Planet once dubbed “The Bear Whisperer.” “Thinking that these animals love you or each other the way that you love them just isn’t based on reality or fact. I don’t want to burst anyone’s bubble, but it’s that kind of thinking that gets someone — either a person or more likely an animal — killed.”
There’s a less sentimental explanation for the team-up, Searles says. Back when he was working as a wildlife officer in Mammoth Lakes in the 1990s, Searles says he often saw coyotes sleeping outside bear dens. (Coyotes have also been spotted alongside bears in Burbank, although in seemingly less friendly circumstances, among other places.) “It was like they were just waiting for the bear to wake up and go to work, because it was more economical for them to travel with the bear during its nightly route,” Searles explains. While bears are typically seen as apex predators, he says, black bears — the only wild bears left in California — are actually vegetarian-leaning omnivores, eating far more grass, tubers, roots and berries than meat. Coyotes, on the other hand, are opportunistic eaters, chowing down on whatever crosses their paths. Following a bear, who’ll knock over a garbage can to lick out a discarded jar of peanut butter but may ignore chicken bones, could be a win for the smaller animal.
Unless a black bear has cubs with it or is looking to mate, Searles says, they won’t really pay the coyote much mind. “Everybody’s used to seeing grizzlies on TV catching salmon out of the air at the top of some waterfall, but black bears are one of the laziest animals on the planet,” he explains. “They just want to walk around on your lawn, eating grass or daisies or other non-indigenous species of plants. It’s just plain easier. They don’t want to run for anything if they can help it.”
Bear ecologist Chris Morgan says that, while he wouldn’t use the word “lazy” to describe black bears, he would absolutely call them efficient. “Like all bears, they’re out for the biggest number of calories for the least amount of effort.”
Even if the pairing is less “buddy animal movie” and more biological imperative, that doesn’t mean seasoned wildlife observers haven’t found something interesting in the footage.
Eric Strauss, the executive director of the Loyola Marymount Center for Urban Resilience, says his group has studied coyotes in urban environments extensively. Still, he says, he’s never seen a coyote with a bear. “I’m an old scientist, but still this kind of stuff never stops being delightful,” Strauss says. “We might think we have everything figured out, but the beauty of science is that you have to prepare to be surprised.”
Observing the pair may help scientists understand more about how animals respond to trauma, like the Eaton fire that destroyed both homes and wildlife habitat. “In the same way that fire is traumatic to humans, fire is traumatic to social animals,” Strauss says. “A lot of these social animals, like coyotes, probably lost their partners or lost their offspring and are, to some degree, still in shock. Most social animals are able to experience all the emotions that humans do. They don’t necessarily show it the same way, but I think knowing that creates a bond between us. These animals might still be wild, but, really, we’re not as different as we would like to think we are.”
In Altadena, where bear murals already dotted local stores before the fire, that sort of connection can feel extra special. Greg Mann, who’s lived in Altadena for about 30 years and who’s posted his bear sightings on the local Reddit page, says when he returned to his home in the Canyon Crest neighborhood earlier this spring, the area felt deserted, not just by people but by animals as well.
“Everything was so silent. There weren’t a lot of people back and it was pitch black at nighttime,” he says. “We weren’t seeing any signs of wildlife and [my wife and I] were really concerned because the fire had traveled so quickly so we just weren’t sure how all the animals had fared. But then we started getting deer in our yard again and other animals, and every single time a new animal comes through, it just feels so hopeful. Little by little, it feels like things are starting to get back to the way they should be.”
