Update on injured, orphaned animals near Lake Tahoe

NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- We want to bring you up to date on several injured and orphaned animals that we've been telling you about over the last few months and it is all good news.

These bear cubs were confiscated last June from a suspected poacher. They ended up at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care where they spent the summer eating and growing, then went into hibernation.

In January, ABC7 News went along as a state fish and wildlife crew placed the cubs in a den in a remote spot called the Sagehen Forest. The team put up motion activated cameras so they could find out what happened when the bears woke up.

Now almost three months later, photos show the cubs are healthy wild bears. They hibernated through February and you can even see them playing when they visited the den last month.

We also introduced you to an injured bald eagle in rehab at the wildlife center since December. Volunteers took video of him on a practice flight as he learned to use his wings again. Then last week they photographed his spectacular release at Carson Pass.

And one more animal you may remember -- "Chips" the bobcat was rescued after a forest fire in Plumas County last August. Chips got intensive medical treatment at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care. Then she was transferred to Sierra Wildlife Rescue to learn to be a wild cat. A photo of her was taken last week, just before she was successfully released with another rescued bobcat in Humboldt County.

All these rescues take thousands of volunteer hours and thousands of dollars.

Links to organizations that helped with the rescue and care of wild animals in the successful releases featured in our story:
#1 Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care Phone: (530) 577-2273

#2 Bear League Phone: (530) 525-PAWS (7297)

#3 Sierra Wildlife Rescue Phone: (530) 647-1089

#4 Sagehen Experimental Forest

Update: Sierra Wildlife Rescue has corrected their original report to indicate "Chips" the bobcat and her companion were released in the Lassen-Plumas Wilderness Area, not Humboldt County.

Written and produced by Jennifer Olney

(Copyright ©2013 KGO-TV/DT.

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Researchers help curb invasive clam at Lake Tahoe

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (KGO) -- Boating season is now in full swing at Lake Tahoe. Extra safeguards are in place to make sure invasive species don't get in the lake, but some unwanted creatures are already there. The good news: experiments on getting rid of at least one harmful species appear to be paying off.

Researchers rolled out the "un-welcome" mat. A UC Davis video shows how researchers spread sheets of rubber on the bottom of Lake Tahoe. The rubber is intended to smother an invasive species called the Asian clam. It blocks the oxygen and the clams are underneath it.

Asian clams are tiny, but have potential to cause big problems. So a multi-agency task force is trying to control the clams before it's too late. They took an ABC7 News crew out on the lake to show us how it's going. In some areas, the clams are easily visible through a scope.

"Every white dot that we are looking at right now is a dead clam shell and there are a lot more live ones underneath them," said Ted Thayer with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.

The clams bury themselves in the sand. They were first discovered in Tahoe 10 years ago and they spread fast.

"These guys can grow faster and just more efficiently than the native clams," said Alyson Gamble, a UC Davis researcher.

The clams encourage algae which clouds Tahoe's famous clear water. Their shells are sharp and make beaches dangerous for bare feet. But scientists say the most serious threat may be that the clams change the water chemistry, so it's easier for other even more harmful species to survive.

"The combined effects of invasive species on Lake Tahoe could be as much as $22 million a year in lost property values, recreation, increased maintenance of boats and boat engines, water intakes," said Thayer.

One picture showed how thick the Asian clam infestation is in some spots now. So far, the clams are mostly in the southeastern part of the lake, but a small colony is beginning to grow at the mouth of Emerald Bay.

Emerald Bay is one of the most popular and beautiful parts of Lake Tahoe and it is the site of a pilot project that started a year ago. Divers put down 2,000 square feet of those rubber mats.

"It's a lot of work down there. These rubber mats are heavy and they have a lot of rebar on them to keep them in place because there are a lot of currents that flow back and forth under across the bottom of Tahoe," said diver Brent Allen.

We were there as researchers pulled the entire experiment out of the water piece by piece. The divers also took clam samples to send to a lab for analysis and after a few weeks the news is good.

"It was very effective," said Thayer.

The mats killed about 80 percent of the clams by cutting off their oxygen. That result combined with earlier research is leading the team to recommend a much larger project -- putting temporary rubber mats on five acres of Emerald Bay. It would cost about $800,000.

The invasive species team is reminding anyone who plans to bring a boat to Lake Tahoe that it must be inspected before it goes into the water. The best way to stop invasive species from getting into the lake is to make sure your boat is clean, drained, and dry when you arrive.

Written and produced by Jennifer Olney

(Copyright ©2012 KGO-TV/DT.

View the original article here