Overview
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed Sept. 3 that an adult napping on a backyard patio chair in Steamboat Springs was scraped on the knee when a black bear reached out, and a neighbor used bear spray to stop further contact.
- The victim sustained only minor injuries, did not seek professional medical treatment, and CPW is not releasing further personal details to protect privacy.
- CPW says bears statewide are in hyperphagia, a pre‑hibernation feeding surge, and that severe drought and wildfire impacts have reduced natural food, driving more bears into populated areas in search of calories.
- State wildlife managers have responded this season with stepped‑up trapping, necropsies, DNA testing, selective relocations and euthanizations under policy when animals are habituated or dangerous, while urging households to follow BearWise steps to remove attractants.
- The Steamboat Springs encounter is part of a broader pattern of increased human‑bear contacts across Colorado that raises local safety concerns and makes community actions—securing trash, removing bird feeders and keeping pet food indoors—central to preventing further incidents.