Wildlife Officers Euthanize Two Bears In Boulder County

BOULDER COUNTY, CO — Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers killed two bears in Boulder County over the weekend. One of the bears was found on the University of Colorado Boulder campus, and the other had a history of home break-ins west of Boulder, wildlife officials said.

The bear found at CU Boulder was in the middle of campus in a courtyard with no good avenues to get out, CPW officials said. Wildlife officers decided they could not safely leave the bear and tranquilized it. The bear had ear tags, indicating it had been previously relocated out of Niwot to northwest of Nederland this past May. Because the relocation was not successful, the bear was taken back to a CPW facility where it was euthanized.

“This is not even close to the ideal outcome for this bear and if we had felt comfortable leaving it we would have as we do with many bears in the city, but its location made it very difficult,” Area Wildlife Manager Kristin Cannon said in a statement.

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The second bear that was euthanized had a history of repeated break-ins to homes up Four Mile Canyon west of Boulder, CPW said. The bear was trapped at a cabin it had previously broken into Saturday morning, and was taken back to a CPW facility where it was euthanized.

“We can’t predict what wildlife will do and if we think there is a greater chance a person may be hurt by a bear, we err on the side of human safety,” Cannon said. “A bear that is continually breaking into cabins or homes is one that poses a serious threat to any human it may encounter.”

Bears are now in a feeding frenzy known as hyperphagia, an instinctive metabolic response to the approaching change of seasons, wildlife officials said. Between now and about early November through mid-December, bears will search for food intensely before heading into their dens, scrounging for any available meals up to 20 hours a day.

CPW urges residents to secure their garbage and make sure nothing edible is left outside.