Bear-human conflicts dropped about 15% in the last year in Colorado

DENVER (KDVR) — Trash is the number one reason why bears have conflicts with Coloradans, according to wildlife officials, but bear-human conflicts still dropped about 15% from 2022 to last year.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported 3,526 accounts of human-bear conflicts in 2023, down from 4,147 in 2022. Just over half of these interactions last year (1,795) resulted in property damage to sheds, garages, homes, vehicles, fences and other items.

This animal caused the most damage in one year, according to Colorado records

Of those 1,795 interactions involving property damage:

• 92% were linked to some kind of attractant

• Over 51% were linked to trash

• 20% were linked to livestock, chickens and beehives

• 19% were linked to bird seed, pet food, barbecue grills, coolers and refrigerators

However, overall bear-human interactions have been down in the past five years. CPW reported last year’s total of bear sightings or interactions is a 21% decrease from 2019.

It’s been five years since Colorado launched a bear reporting system to track and quantify bear activity and conflicts across the state. Since it was implemented in April 2019, CPW has taken 21,310 reports of sightings and conflicts with bears.

CPW said the reporting helps inform wildlife managers where bears are and what they are up to, helping them identify conflict sources and make educated wildlife management decisions.

Where does Colorado’s bear population live?

CPW estimates between 17,000-20,000 bears live in Colorado, and like most years, the majority of incidents between humans and bears were because the large animals were trying to access human food sources.

“Collaboration with local communities is vital to successfully reducing human-bear conflicts and CPW cannot do it alone,” CPW Grant Manager Travis Long, manager of the Human-Bear Conflict Reduction Community Grant Program, said in a release. “Without individuals and communities taking some action and following proper guidelines on living with bears, the number of conflicts will not go down. Fortunately, the funding CPW provides can help empower communities to take the proper actions.”

2 orphaned bear cubs given a new home by CPW

The CPW Northwest region has the largest bear population in the state and received 1,228 reports, which is 35% less than in 2022. The region encompasses parts of Jackson, Grand, Eagle, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, Routt, Summit, Garfield and Mesa counties, among portions of other counties.

CPW said that despite good natural forage in the area, an “unreasonable number of bears were reported entering homes.”

In CPW’s Southwest region, there were 697 reports, which the agency called “steady,” along with the Northeast region, which had 905 reports, and the Southeast region, which had 696. These rates could be attributed to Colorado’s East Slope receiving adequate temperatures and rainfall to produce natural forage for bears in 2023, CPW said.

Reporting a bear to CPW does not mean euthanization

CPW said one reason the public is reluctant to report bear activity is because of a fear the animal will be euthanized.

Of the 3,596 reports received in 2023, CPW reported only 1.8% led to the bear being put down. The vast majority of reports allowed a wildlife officer to get involved and prevent euthanization, according to CPW.

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The agency reported that annually, since 2020, CPW has euthanized or relocated the following number of bears:

• 2023: 3,526 reports, 33 relocated, 63 euthanized

• 2022: 4,147 reports, 59 relocated, 94 euthanized

• 2021: 3,598 reports, 51 relocated, 66 euthanized

• 2020: 4,806 reports, 118 relocated, 158 euthanized

CPW noted that 2020 had “notoriously” bad natural forage production, with drought conditions that led to a disproportionately high number of human-bear conflicts.

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