Wildlife & Fisheries

Wildlife

Tahoe is home to an impressive array of wildlife, including some rare species like bald eagles, osprey, and northern goshawk. Abundant wildlife demonstrates a healthy ecosystem that is supporting a range of species co-existing with each other. Visitors and residents in Tahoe are often awed by wildlife sightings. Bears and coyotes are numerous and bird watching is a favorite pastime.

Wildlife require healthy habitat that is free from unnecessary stressors. The parameters for a healthy habitat differ for each species, but in general habitat is a combination of abundant food, water, shelter and space for breeding.

Development, recreation and noise pose the greatest risks to wildlife in Tahoe. Development reduces and fragments habitat. Recreationists and loud noises can unnecessarily frighten and displace wildlife. A solution is to offer appropriate buffers for sensitive species, while also allowing people to quietly enjoy wildlife.

How can you decrease your impact on wildlife?

You can help protect Tahoe’s wildlife by keeping dogs on leash in meadows, using motorized boats and vehicles responsibly, and packing out all trash from trails.

Northern Goshawk

The Northern Goshawk is a raptor that lives in forests and preys on rodents and birds. Goshawks have long been a part of the Lake Tahoe Basin ecosystem. They live at the lake year-round and breed from lake level to tree line. Studies have shown that more than 90 nests are scattered about Tahoe’s forests. The birds are listed as a species of special interest by the TRPA, Forest Service and the states of California and Nevada. Current potential stressors to goshawks include urbanization, motorized and non-motorized recreation on forest trails and roads, felling trees for fire reduction, and ski resort-related development. Land-managers like the Forest Service and TRPA conduct goshawk monitoring programs. Development and recreation plans must ensure the species is protected by interfering as little as possible with identified nesting and hunting sights.

Black bear

One of Tahoe’s most loved and well-known wildlife species is its black bears. Tahoe’s bears are smart, curious and formidable foragers. Each summer, newspapers are filled with stories of bears breaking into houses, and being unnecessarily killed by wildlife officials because of their brazen behavior.

The biggest reason for these incidents is people leaving out unsecured trash or unknowingly providing food or smells that attracts bears. All jurisdictions in Tahoe now require bear-proof trash containers, but enforcement is low. Low-cost containers are now on sale at many hardware stores.

Here are four simple steps to deter bears:

1)      Install bear-proof garbage containers

2)      Do not feed bears

3)      Don’t put out bird seed from April to November. Bears love birdseed.

4)      Retrofit your home with double pane windows and hardcore doors.

To learn more about how to safely and humanely keep bears away, visit the Bear League.

Fisheries

Lake Tahoe’s fisheries include stream, river and lake habitat. Healthy fisheries benefit biological diversity, wildlife that prey on fish, as well as recreationists who enjoy fishing. In addition, they are sometimes a tourist attraction that benefits the economy. Fish require habitat that provides cover from predators, the correct water temperature for breeding, and enough food to forage.

Lahontan Cutthroat Trout

Historically, only a few species of fish lived in Lake Tahoe. The Lahontan Cutthroat Trout was the dominant fish. Large and long-lived, it grew to an impressive 50 inches in length and weighed 40 pounds. Native people throughout the Great Basin depended on the trout for their livelihood.

However, the Lahontan cutthroat’s fate changed dramatically during the 19th and 20th centuries. The fish were caught in high numbers to sustain the towns and mining camps of the growing West. Dams and development destroyed habitat. By 1970, the fish were listed as an endangered species. In 1975, that classification was lowered to “threatened.”

Extensive efforts are underway to restore the Lahontan cutthroat to its traditional range.

Kokanee salmon

Tahoe’s most famous non-native fish is its kokanee, which spawn in Taylor Creek every fall. These small red salmon were introduced to the lake in 1944, and are a landlocked cousin of sockeye salmon. The U.S. Forest Service operates a visitor center and underground viewing station at Taylor Creek.

Read more about Tahoe’s native and non-native fish.