He’s back: the ۵۵۰lb bear made famous after he took up residence under an Altadena home in November ۲۰۲۵ is wandering the Los Angeles neighborhood again after he moved in and out of the crawlspace of another home.
“Yellow ۲۱۲۰”, as the black bear has been tagged, was spotted in the crawlspace of a home on Minoru Drive on Monday.
Steve Clark, whose in-laws live in the house, told NBC LA that they monitored their new neighbor through security cameras, and tried to scare him away by playing loud music and turning on a leaf blower.
“I didn’t even realize that the bear could get all the way back to that access point. He has to rip out ductwork and do a bunch of damage to get there,” Clark said.
Although those attempts to oust “Yellow ۲۱۲۰” from his adopted den failed, the bear later left on his own. While the homeowners have sealed up their crawlspace, their neighbors are on alert in case the bear decides to move in with them next.
“Yellow ۲۱۲۰” made headlines last year when he took up residence under another Altadena home for two months.
In November ۲۰۲۵, homeowner Ken Johnson noticed the bear leaving the crawlspace and later contacted California’s department of fish and wildlife for assistance removing it from under his home. Despite sweet-scented lures and ammonia-doused towels, “Yellow ۲۱۲۰” remained in place until January – when Johnson sought assistance from members of the Bear League, a volunteer organization that aims to help humans live in “harmony” with the animals, that was able to force the bear out with paintball guns.
“He’s a nuisance and he’s living under my house rent-free,” Johnson told the Orange County Register at the time. “We call him … unbearable, but he’s so cute. Once he gets out, we’ll call him bearable, but for now it’s unbearable.”
After the Eaton wildfire tore through the Angeles national forest and scorched parts of Altadena in January ۲۰۲۵, wildlife – including several bears – sought shelter in the community. In the weeks following the fire, at least two ۵۰۰-plus-pound black bears sought refuge in homes evacuated during the wildfire. Although it’s unclear whether “Yellow ۲۱۲۰” was one of them, he had previously taken up residence under another Altadena home, said Cort Klopping, a fish and wildlife spokesperson.
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As cities encroach closer on bear habitats, bear sightings are growing more common. In ۲۰۱۷, California registered ۲۸ bear sightings in Los Angeles county. In ۲۰۲۳, that number rose to ۴۵۵.
This month Alex Heeran, a research scientist at the California department of fish and wildlife who studies the human dimensions of wildlife encounters, told the Guardian that human and bear interactions generally peak every year in late summer and early fall as black bears finish up their pre-hibernation feeding period. This year is on track to be record setting when it comes to reported bear encounters, Heeran said.
Black bears – the only species of bear living in California – are largely non-confrontational, having killed only one person in the state in recorded history. The population is estimated to be between ۴۹,۰۰۰ and ۷۱,۰۰۰, with ۵۰% living in the north coast and Cascade regions, and ۴۰% in the Sierra Nevada.
