Department Of Fish And Wildlife's "Trap, Tag, Haze" Program Sabotaged By Angry Tahoe Community Members

LAKE TAHOE (CBS13) — Researchers with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's "Trap, Tag, Haze" program say they're being harassed by community members.

In the program, researchers catch the bears, collect samples, tag them, and then when they release them, they use paintball guns to scare them so they don't get too comfortable with humans.

The goal of the program is to keep track of the activities of Tahoe bears, but some people in Tahoe do not see it that way.

Researchers say that community members have yelled at them to leave the bears alone. They also claim research traps are being sabotaged by people pouring ammonia on them so bears stay away.