Grapevine

Bears have learned to open doors in California town

Owning a home in Southern California isn't just a dream for humans. Apparently, the bears want in on the market too.

Just ask residents and city officials in Sierra Madre, who in the last few years have seen their furry, four-legged neighbors amble out of the forest and barge into their cars, kitchens and living rooms as though the humans were just keeping the place warm for them.

"This is a new phenomenon," Sierra Madre City Attorney Aleks Giragosian said. "Something interesting happened in the past two years. And like Jurassic Park, the bears have learned how to open doors. I don't know how they learned it. I don't know how they're teaching each other, but they're opening car doors, too."

Bear sightings are nothing new for Sierra Madre and the other communities in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest, but in the last few years the bears have become bolder in their hunt for food.

In 2020, there were about 100 reports of bear sightings in Sierra Madre but no reports of break-ins into homes, authorities said. Last year, those numbers jumped to 380 sightings and 50 break-ins.