Overview
- A bear bit a woman through the side of her tent at Park Creek Campground on Friday, Sept. 11, leaving a puncture wound that was treated by EMS and documented by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
- A separate incident in Durango early Sunday involved a black bear ripping a window screen, entering a 17-year-old’s bedroom and swiping her under blankets, causing scratches and bruising.
- Officers collected scene evidence at both sites including saliva swabs, hair, claw marks, scat and tent damage, closed the campground for the season, and set traps near the Durango condo after the bear entered another nearby residence.
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife says these cases form part of a record surge in conflicts this season, reporting roughly 6,000 statewide sightings and about ten confirmed attacks as bears enter hyperphagia and seek calories amid depleted natural foods.
- Officials are urging residents to secure trash, pet food, grills, bird feeders and windows or doors to reduce attractants, warning that repeated home entry often leads crews to remove or euthanize habituated bears.