The time of year when bears get very, very hungry is approaching, and authorities in Colorado are urging the public to take warnings about bear-proofing their homes seriously. Authorities say keeping bears out of your home protects bears as well as humans, since breaking into an occupied structure will result in a death sentence for the bear, the Denver Post reports. Colorado Parks and Wildlife says it has euthanized an average of around 110 black bears a year since 2015, and it has put down 63 so far this year out of a population of up to 20,000. CPW says bears are about to start their pre-hibernation eating binge, which peaks in mid-to-late September.
CPW public information officer Joey Livingston says they try to relocate bears found in urban areas for the first time under a "two-strike rule," and around 30 have been relocated so far this year. "Relocations are usually for nuisance bears that are coming around too much, won’t leave, maybe get into a shed or something, not an occupied structure," Livingston says. "Once a bear gets into an occupied structure, that’s when it becomes a dangerous bear, and we do euthanize right away. If they can get into a house and get food, they’re going to get into a house again, and the chances of someone getting hurt increase dramatically."
A mother bear and her four cubs were euthanized in Aspen Sunday after they broke into a home, the Aspen Times reports. The homeowner said she felt "really sick" about what happened to the bears, who entered the home through a ground-floor window that had been left slightly ajar. CPW's bear-proofing guide urges people to keep bear-accessible doors and windows closed and locked, and to keep trash and other possible food sources somewhere secure. The agency says that while bears prefer natural sources of food, they're not fussy eaters, and limiting human food sources will reduce human-bear conflicts. (More bears stories.)
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