Bear takes a stroll on crowded Lake Tahoe beach; wildlife ecologist calls it "unusual"

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE – A crowded beach is nothing new to Lake Tahoe on a summer weekend, but a bear joining you for your swim might be a little out of the ordinary.

"It was a big commotion. He caused a bear jam," Stephen Hendy, bartender at the Beach Tiki Bar, said.

Hendy was working when the bear was seen taking a stroll on Connolley Beach on Aug. 31.

"I saw it moving around once it got closer to the pier," Hendy said.

The bear appears to be minding its own business and taking a stroll along the beach before getting in the lake for a swim.

"This behavior is unusual. I mean there are hundreds, if not thousands, of bears in the Lake Tahoe area and we don't typically see them on the beach with people," Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, wildlife ecologist, said.

Dr. Wynn-Grant said although this isn't the norm, warmer temperatures could cause a bear to be around a large group of people, if it meant getting into a body of water so it could cool off.

"Although this bear was actually acting very casually, maybe even in an amusing way, it was probably having a heightened stress response," Dr. Wynn-Grant said.

Hendy said this was not the first time he has seen a bear on that beach.

"It's happened before. I think now though with social media, everyone has a cellphone so it gets out really really quickly," Hendy said.

He said from what he heard and saw, this particular bear meant no harm.

Although the bear was the star of the show that day, he said people tried their best to give it space.

"I'd like to think we gave him his space. He got to wander away and it's not like people got in front of him," Hendy said.