Biologists capture bear in Altadena – NBC Los Angeles

Biologists safely captured a bear in Altadena – but not the one that’s taken up residence in a homeowner’s crawlspace.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife helped an Altadena homeowner who’s been troubled by the presence of a bear in his crawlspace set up a trap in hopes of capturing the wild animal. Biologists with the department placed the trap outside the house of Ken Johnson but inadvertently caught a different bear on Tuesday.

“That bear was processed, tagged, and released to a nearby suitable habitat Wednesday afternoon,” the department said in a statement.

The race to capture the fuzzy squatter began last month after Johnson noticed some items on his property being moved around. After installing a camera on the side of his house, the homeowner noticed a black bear roaming through his property. Then, he saw his crawlspace’s screen ripped open.

“When I saw it all torn up, I thought, ‘He must not be under there,’ because there is no way a bear could fit,” Johnson said.

An Altadena homeowner who’s been dealing with a bear in his crawlspace says a second bear has appeared on his property. Tracey Leong reports for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.

With some tenacity and a bit of a squeeze, the bear managed to wedge itself into Johnson’s crawlspace and has made itself comfortable in there since. Occasionally, the 500-pound animal has been seen leaving the crawlspace but it always returns.

Johnson and the department are still working on trying to coax it out and capture it.

“… our biologists went to the site and attempted to use hazing techniques to draw the bear out from the crawlspace, but the bear did not come out,” the department said in its statement. “Our biologists have continued to stay in close contact with the homeowner through this process and will continue to do so.”