Overview
- A bear entered an Estes Park house through an unlocked first-floor window on Thursday and scratched and knocked down a woman in her 80s who was treated for abdominal injuries.
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife has set traps, asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s APHIS for help locating the animal, and is using dog teams, necropsies and DNA testing to link bears to attacks.
- Officials say this incident is part of an unprecedented season with more than 6,000 reports statewide, roughly double last year’s total, driven by drought-reduced natural foods and bears’ late-summer hyperphagia.
- Recent cluster incidents include a mauled angler in Jefferson County, a man bitten in Aspen, a dead bear found in a car in Colorado Springs, and multiple home intrusions such as a Colorado Springs kitchen encounter captured on video.
- Wildlife managers urge residents to secure trash, remove bird feeders, lock windows and doors, keep pet food inside and carry bear spray to reduce attractants and lower the chance bears will be relocated or euthanized.