Two Colorado communities dealt with disruptive bear encounters in the span of a few days, with officials pointing to drought conditions as a key factor driving the animals into residential areas in growing numbers.
In Manitou Springs, police were called to a home Wednesday after a bear became stuck inside a parked vehicle belonging to local residents. Nobody was hurt, but the car itself bore the brunt of the ordeal, suffering major damage as the animal worked to get free. Officers from the Manitou Springs Police Department, along with Manitou Springs Fire Department crews, worked together to free the bear from the vehicle.
Authorities used the occasion to remind the public that bears are both powerful and unpredictable, particularly around food, and that their sense of smell is estimated to be more than 2,100 times sharper than a human's. That acute sense of smell means that even trace quantities of food, wrappers, drinks, pet food, and coolers can draw a bear toward a vehicle or property. Officials warned that once bears learn to associate parked vehicles or residential neighborhoods with a reliable food source, the resulting situation becomes hazardous for people and animals alike.
Separately, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers dealt with a bear that had taken up residence in a Louisville neighborhood for several days and showed no sign of leaving on its own; officers ultimately tranquilized the adult animal and, with assistance from Louisville police, transported it back to woodland habitat. CPW's Northeast Region field office shared photos of the bear perched in a tree above what appeared to be a backyard treehouse.
CPW tied both the Louisville situation and a broader spike in bear activity to ongoing drought, which has stripped away much of the natural food bears depend on. "We need everyone to keep trash away from bears. It's harmful to them and encourages conflicts with humans," the agency stated.
Authorities from both communities offered overlapping guidance to help residents avoid future encounters. They advised clearing all food, beverages, trash, pet food, coolers, and other scented items out of vehicles, keeping doors locked and windows fully shut, and refraining from feeding wildlife or leaving anything edible within a bear's reach.
Whether additional bears in either area will require relocation, and whether drought conditions will continue to push wildlife into neighborhoods, remains to be seen as summer progresses.