This week in Colorado, three separate bear attacks occurred on three consecutive days. And the number of bear reports in the state this year? They’ve nearly doubled from this time last year.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) officials are even warning humans to be aware of this abnormal bear activity.
Turns out, the rise in sightings and encounters may be caused by a changing climate.
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Three bear attacks this week
On Monday, CPW responded to an apartment complex near Eagle-Vail for reports of a bear attack. A man was leaving a building laundry room when officials say he encountered a female black bear.
She swiped her paw at the man, scratching his arm before he tried to escape, tripping and injuring his foot. He was taken to a local medical facility and treated for minor injuries.
The next day, CPW responded to another bear attack inside a home in Steamboat Springs. The bear reportedly entered a woman’s home through her sliding glass door. She attempted to chase the animal outside, but it struck and cut her face.
She also went to a local hospital for minor injuries.
On Wednesday, a third bear attack occurred in Aspen. A male experiencing homelessness was sleeping in a park when a bear approached him and began sniffing him.
It then bit the man’s head, waking him up.
He managed to get out of his sleeping bag and away from the animal before calling for help. He was taken to a local hospital via ambulance, where he was treated for head and facial injuries.
Bear attacks and sightings are significantly rising.
According to CPW data, from Jan. 1 through Aug. 13, there have been 6,129 reports of bear sightings and conflicts, up from 3,115 during the same period last year.
CPW says it is now on pace to reach the highest number of bear reports since the organization launched its statewide digital reporting system in 2019.
During this time of year when bears are gathering food to survive the winter, it is especially important to exercise caution.
These attacks aren’t just happening in Colorado. Bear conflicts have also risen in California, New Mexico, Oregon and Montana, according to ABC News.
Climate change contributes
What’s driving the rise in bear sightings? CPW says drought conditions.
Colorado is currently facing serious water supply stress and local drought emergencies. As Straight Arrow previously reported, Lake Mead dropped to a record low this month, followed by Lake Powell.
These drought conditions are driving food supply scarcity for bears across the state.
“Low mountain snowpack, wildfires and drought have reduced the availability of natural foods such as berries, fruits, nuts, plants and grasses in parts of Colorado,” CPW wrote in a news release earlier this month.
When a bear struggles to find necessary food, it looks for it in different places, resulting in more human interactions.
“As natural foods become harder to find, bears may travel farther and take greater risks to eat the calories they need,” CPW wrote. “That can bring them into neighborhoods and other developed areas where trash, bird seed, pet food, barbecue grills and other human food sources provide an easy meal.”
But that lack of natural food is not encouragement to feed bears when you see them or are near them. In fact, providing food can actually make the situation worse for bears and more dangerous for humans.
It’s a similar story to the one coming out of Houston, where officials are urging residents and tourists not to feed raccoons.
“Bears that repeatedly get food around homes can lose their natural wariness of people and learn to return to human areas,” CPW said. “Once that behavior is established, bears can cause property damage, create threats to human safety and ultimately face relocation or euthanasia.”
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