{"id":549569,"date":"2026-03-28T02:04:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/549569\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T02:04:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T02:04:12","slug":"los-angeles-suburb-outraged-after-local-mama-bear-named-goldie-is-euthanized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/549569\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles suburb outraged after local mama bear named Goldie is euthanized"},"content":{"rendered":"

Residents of a Los Angeles suburb are protesting that a local black bear was euthanized and using the bear’s death to advocate for their furry neighbors.<\/p>\n

Blondie, as locals have affectionately named the mama bear to two cubs, was euthanized after swiping at a resident who was walking her dog on March 14 in Monrovia, a city on the edge of the Angeles National Forrest. DNA testing confirmed that the mother bear captured following this incident was also responsible for a \u201cprevious attack on an elderly resident sitting on his Monrovia porch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monrovia locals Ricardo Martinez and Brian Gordon started the \u201cSave Blondie\u201d petition the moment she was caught, knowing that euthanasia would be on the table. Yet, shortly after Blondie was captured, she was euthanized by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, or CDFW.<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/p>\n

Blondie’s black bear cubs were taken to the Ramona Wildlife Center after the mama bear was captured and euthanized. (San Diego Humane Society)<\/p>\n

(San Diego Humane Society)<\/p>\n

Monrovia residents, who are used to coexisting with California wildlife, were shocked at news of the swiping incident, especially involving a bear that many had seen in the area before.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t feel in danger at our home, even seeing bears. We know what to do, and we try to have practices that make sure that we\u2019re not in danger and they\u2019re not in danger,\u201d Gordon told NBC News.<\/p>\n

Gordon described Monrovia as a \u201cbubble.\u201d Trash cans have bear proof lids, people never leave food in their cars, and residents have casual interactions with bears on the street \u2014 where they always give the bear the right-of-way.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community was mourning, because we treat these critters like neighbors, you know, and we see them, we know them,\u201d Gordon said.<\/p>\n

In the days after the swiping incident, Blondie paid a visit to Gordon and Martinez\u2019s backyard. She took a dip in the pool and scratched herself on a telephone pole before leaving.<\/p>\n

In their petition, Martinez and Gordon wrote that black bears can become defensive if they feel their cubs are in danger. Cort Klopping, a spokesperson for the CDFW, told NBC News that the cubs were not present during the swiping incident, leading the department to determine that the sow was not acting to protect her cubs.<\/p>\n

\"Screengrab<\/p>\n

Blondie swimming in Gordon and Martinez’s pool. (Courtesy Ricardo Martinez)<\/p>\n

(Courtesy Ricardo Martinez)<\/p>\n

Martinez and Gordon’s petition <\/a>had garnered local attention, with about 3,000 signatures and residents expressing concern over the fate of Blondie\u2019s two cubs, by the time Blondie was euthanized.<\/p>\n

The CDFW told NBC News that the decision followed \u201cthorough assessment of the bear\u2019s behavior and the circumstances of the incident.\u201d Euthanasia, the CDFW said, is only used \u201cas a last resort when an animal poses a risk to public safety and cannot be safely returned to the wild.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, locals are advocating for more transparency from the CDFW, education around bear safety, and due process for bears deemed public safety risks.<\/p>\n

Martinez called the department\u2019s policy \u201ccontradicting,\u201d particularly around whether or not euthanasia is truly viewed as a last resort.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing \u2018euthanasia is the last resort,\u2019 but then if you have a bear that\u2019s deemed a Public Safety Bear, which anybody in CDFW or law enforcement officials could deem them a Public Safety Bear, then euthanasia needs to be conducted as soon as possible,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n

The CDFW rebutted relocation as an option, saying it still puts public safety at risk. \u201cBears have strong spatial memory and often return to familiar areas,\u201d the CDFW said. \u201cWhen translocated long distances, they recreate the same conflict behavior or struggle to survive in unfamiliar habitat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Klopping stressed that euthanasia “isn\u2019t something that is taken lightly by the department.\u201d The ideal outcome would be for bears to be translocated right when residents notice that the animal is becoming \u201chabituated\u201d \u2014 more dependent on people, and less scared of them. Klopping said the department hopes the public will report sightings of bears living in their neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe outcome is what all of us would really prefer, which is the bear is translocated to where it belongs, and then people can go on living where people live, and bears can go on living where bears live,\u201d Klopping said.<\/p>\n

The original petition has evolved, Martinez said, \u201cfrom ‘Save Blondie’ to now ‘Honor Blondie,’\u201d by advocating for policy change and pushing for full investigations prior to euthanasia.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the policy right now, it\u2019s euthanasia,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cThat\u2019s the answer. Like, if a bear makes contact with people, the bear is gonna be euthanized.\u201d<\/p>\n

This weekend, residents remembered Blondie with a two-mile memorial walk, one mile for each of her cubs. Residents walked with signs that read \u201cMama bear love\u201d and \u201cBlondie didn\u2019t deserve to die,\u201d as well as teddy bear balloons and photos of the beloved bear.<\/p>\n

Blondie\u2019s two cubs were relocated to San Diego Humane Society\u2019s Ramona Wildlife Center, where the young male cubs will be raised with hopes of one day returning to the wild. The wildlife team tends to the cubs while wearing bear suits to avoid habituating the cubs to humans.<\/p>\n

Autumn Welch, Wildlife Operations Manager at San Diego Humane Society, said that the bear cub brothers are doing well and could be released this fall or next spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are starting to explore their indoor habitat more and more each day,\u201d she said. \u201cThey still snuggle up to the big teddy bear when it\u2019s time for a nap.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Residents of a Los Angeles suburb are protesting that a local black bear was euthanized and using the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[39362,244692,135149,10334,58500,61226,242832,244691,82316,79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-549569","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-blondie","9":"tag-brian-gordon","10":"tag-cdfw","11":"tag-mama-bear","12":"tag-monrovia","13":"tag-nbc-news","14":"tag-ramona-wildlife-center","15":"tag-ricardo-martinez","16":"tag-san-diego-humane-society","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}