Wildfires Spark Peril, Opportunity for Wildlife
Animals cope with rise in wildfires by adapting and pushing back.
Aug. 18, 2007 — -- One of the most memorable scenes from the 1942 animated classic "Bambi" is the forest fire that sends Bambi and his friends frantically scrambling out of the way of enormous flames.
The reality, though, is that wild animals usually don't resort to such frantic escapes. But with increased development and the rising incidence and severity of wildfires in the United States, fires are more frequently driving animals out of their home range, and in many places, into populated areas.
Near Northern California's Lake Tahoe, where the 3,100 acre Angora fire burned in June, calls are pouring into the BEAR League, an all-volunteer group that responds to bear sightings around the lake. Since the fire, sightings have doubled, according to Ann Bryant, who heads the group.
"It's fire and drought," she said. "There's no water and the berries have withered on their vines. The black bears are coming down from the mountain to the houses surrounding the lake. We're getting calls about bears going through the garbage, passing through neighborhoods and sometimes getting hit by cars."
Bryant said her group found six or seven bear carcasses in the burned area. The fire displaced several older male bears that moved and drove out smaller bears. "We're seeing new bears from where they've never come before, forced down off the mountainside," said Bryant.
Animals are also moving down from the hills for food in one of the nation's largest urban parks. Three months ago, a fire burned 800 acres, about a third of the park, in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. Deer, coyotes and other animals are moving to the unburned areas of the park for food but also into the neighborhoods surrounding the park. Residents are calling more frequently about deer and coyote sightings around their homes, according to senior ranger Patrick Joyce.
Laura Garcia, who lives a mile from Griffith Park, said she pulled into her driveway one evening and her car's headlights shone on a thin, mangy coyote with a housecat in its mouth. She got out of the car and left the headlights on. "I walked up to the coyote," said Garcia, "and said, 'Drop that!'"
