While community members, Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff, municipal and county agencies as well as bear coalitions gathered at Pitkin County Library to discuss human-bear conflict solutions on Tuesday evening, two black bears were reportedly bluff charging.
The number of bear reports was down slightly across Colorado and down significantly in Pitkin County in 2020 compared with the prior year, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The agency received 4,943 bear reports statewide last year compared with 5,369 in 2019. Wildlife officers euthanized 120 bears in Colorado last year and relocated another 89 because of conflicts with humans. Both actions were up from the numbers in 2019. Bear “reports” cover everything from attacks to simple sightings in the woods.
In Pitkin County, the number of reports fell drastically to 454 in 2020 from 948 the prior year, according to Randy Hampton, Northwest Region public information officer.
“Pitkin County didn’t get hit as hard as far as drought impacts,” Hampton said Wednesday. Natural food sources were more bountiful in the Roaring Fork Valley than in many other parts of the state, he said. Therefore, bears might not have been seeking human food sources as desperately in the valley.
A third of bear-human conflicts in 2020 were caused by trash, CPW says
Colorado Parks and Wildlife says human trash continues to be the main cause of conflicts, accounting for 1,661 of the nearly 5,000 recorded incidents last year. Author: Wilson Beese (9NEWS) Updated: 12:01 PM MST February 3, 2021
COLORADO, USA Just over a third of all conflicts between humans and bears in 2020 were connected to human trash, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said on Wednesday.
Of the 4,943 bear reports received last year, CPW said 1,661 involved trash as a documented attractant.
Some of the other main causes of conflicts reported in 2020 were bird feeders (411 reports), livestock (391 reports) and unsecured chicken coops (254 reports).