Bear encounters increase year to year in Colorado, according to state agency

Seth Boster, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
·3 min read

Feb. 17—Coloradans reported more bear encounters in 2022 than they did the year prior, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

CPW tallied 4,282 calls of sightings and conflicts with bears last year. That's up 16% from 2021 and down 1.3% from the previous two years, according to the agency.

Wildlife managers in 2019 launched a new bear reporting system in hopes of tracking "overall trends and identifying sources of conflict on a localized, regional and statewide level," according to a recent news release.

In CPW's northeast region, including the Denver area up through Fort Collins, 1,004 reports were counted last year, up from 794 in 2021. In the southeast region, including Colorado Springs and Pueblo, 710 reports were filed, up from 585 the year prior.

The latest numbers are down for both regions from 2020 — 1,333 reports from the northeast and 1,086 from the southeast.

The news release cited several factors that might influence data any given year. Human behavior is one of those. During the 2020 pandemic, for example, more people were outside and active in bear habitat, likely contributing to the record 4,971 reports filed across the state that year. That total dropped to 3,706 the next year in 2021.

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Drought is another factor. Without moisture, bears' natural forage struggles to grow, leading them to seek food in town.

Trash continues to be the leading cause of sightings and conflicts, according to CPW. The agency has traced nearly a third of all reports to garbage left unsecured. CPW has also tracked problems from bird feeders, uncleaned grills and fruit from yard trees.

The state's northwest region continues to be the leading contributor of reports. Last year's count: 1,892, well outpacing the next most in the most human-populated Denver area and northeast region (1,004). The northwest region in recent years has been particularly plagued by drought, CPW has noted.

With the year-to-year increase in sightings and conflicts came a year-to-year increase in euthanized bears: 94 last year, according to CPW, up from 66 in 2021. Since 2015, the agency has killed an average of 108 bears a year — an action officials say becomes necessary when bears either attack or repeat behavior suggesting they've lost fear of people. A bear might also be relocated after a reported offense.

In the recent news release, CPW said it is aware of "a reluctance to report bear activity over a belief it will lead to the bear being put down." The release cited four-year data showing 2.3% of total bear reports the last four years have led to euthanization.

With estimates between 17,000 and 20,000, CPW considers the state's bear population "stable and growing."

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