Bears are extremely active in the area as they look for food

Conflicts and euthanasia numbers up

by Mark Reaman  

Chances are most people have now heard the story about the bear that broke into a Mt. Crested Butte residence last week and started a fire in the kitchen. The story went viral and unfortunately the bear was killed in the act as local law enforcement and safety personnel responded to the incident on Paradise Road during the early morning of August 19. But that’s far from the only bear encounter in the area this summer.

It’s been a big bear year in the valley and in all of Colorado given dry backcountry conditions. That has led to a lack of natural food in the wild and the reason so many bears are wandering around where people (and trash) are situated. Local law enforcement, government and Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) officials say they have been busy in Crested Butte, Mt. Crested Butte, Gunnison and CB South dealing with bears this summer.

According to the Colorado Sun, as of mid-August, CPW had received 6,129 reports of bear sightings and incidents statewide, already surpassing the 5,299 reports CPW received during all of 2025. Last year, CPW relocated 68 bears because of conflicts and killed 98. The agency says that both drought and wildfire this year have contributed to challenges for wildlife and habitats they depend on. That can result in the bruins heading for the easy food buffet of town trashcans and dumpsters.

“We have been super busy dealing with bear situations this year, and it is a sad story,” said Gunnison area wildlife manager for CPW Brandon Diamond. “We are definitely busier, and probably have exceeded the number of calls we had last year at this time. And we are not out of the woods. It will probably be an issue into October.”

Diamond said there were some drought years in the early 2000s and they too saw a rise in bear-people conflicts. He expects this year to set new records. “It really is sad when we have to euthanize a bear,” he said. “CPW has to draw a line when bears pose a public safety risk. We are above the average with euthanizing bears this year.”

Diamond continued, “It’s the last thing we want to do. But if it gets dangerous, we have to do it. We all want to avoid those situations. The more we can avoid it, the better the bears will be.”

Drought adding to their stress

Diamond said given the extremely lean backcountry food supply, the bear issue is everywhere in the valley from Mt. Crested Butte, to CB, to Crested Butte South, to Almont and west Gunnison. “We live in bear habitat so we will always have bears,” he noted. “We can’t become complacent so we need to get rid of the food subsidies, which can be difficult to do but is necessary and worth the cost.”

Mt. Crested Butte has been a bear magnet this summer. “The bears have certainly been quite active this year,” said Mt. Crested Butte police department administrative assistant Hannah Zimmer. “It appears the numbers are a bit higher this year than in previous years. The bears have also been going beyond just getting into trash cans and have started breaking into people’s homes.

“Fortunately, (until the kitchen fire incident) there have not been many dangerous situations involving people,” Zimmer continued. “However, one bear did completely rip out a resident’s window, causing significant damage. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is trying to use traps to safely relocate some of these bears; however, there are currently no traps available for our area.”

Diamond said that while traps can be a tool, “we can’t trap our way of this situation. It’s not that simple,” he said. “Frankly, in a year like this, there is no place to relocate a bear where there is food. It becomes very, very challenging.”

In Crested Butte a regular pattern seems to have emerged this summer and local authorities emphasize hazing the bears as a deterrent to keep them out of town.

“There has been more activity involving bears this year,” said Crested Butte chief marshal Sean Besecker. “The marshals do our best at enforcing wildlife resistant containers — which obviously draw unwanted attention from the bears. Once the bears enter town, we make great attempts at influencing them out of town. If the bears are not a direct safety threat to people, we work to move them out of town, but they come back, and the process continues. CPW is the primary agency for trapping, relocating and in rare instances euthanizing bears. We document and inform CPW, which ultimately makes the call in dealing with the bears outside of the usual process.”

CB South is also seeing activity regularly. “The bear activity is off the charts in CB South. In eight years prior, I have twice had bear activity at my house,” said Crested Butte South Property Owner Association manager Derek Harwell. “In the past month, I have four times had bears at my house, twice on the upstairs deck. We have been in touch with CPW, and they are well aware of the situation and monitoring best they can.” 

Last week a bear was seen walking down Shavano Street before turning into a driveway at approximately 6 p.m. It was eventually hazed away from the home but it climbed a tree on Teocalli, which became somewhat of a spectacle. Kids on bikes and people walking dogs had to avoid the tree; local law enforcement responded to advise that people keep their distance until the bear vacated the area. And there have been several other reports of a mother bear and two cubs getting into trash within CB South’s commercial district over the last two months.

Diamond said the drought along with some late spring freezes resulted in natural food failures. He said for example, that where in the past an abundant amount of choke cherries might be present, this year there are little to none. “There is not enough to sustain the bear populations we have,” he explained. “In these types of years, bears are looking for any food subsidy, and that includes bears that have never been around people before. Their drive to store calories increases as they move toward winter hibernation so now is the time to reset and pay attention. Implement mitigation measures. Take a few minutes to manage bear attractants like trash, pet food, bird feeders and grills. Bears that are rewarded by human food subsidies never end well.”

The fire bear…

The bear that started the fire in Mt. Crested Butte met an untimely end. According to a press release from the Crested Butte Fire Protection District, “the bear forced its way through an exterior door and then broke through a large pane of glass in an interior entryway door to gain full access to the home. Once inside, it knocked over shelving, furniture, and window coverings in the entryway and living room before moving into the kitchen. In the kitchen, the bear tore apart the refrigerator, scattered the contents of a full trash can, destroyed items on the counter, and broke apart a wooden dish-drying rack. The rack landed on the electric stovetop, which was turned on at some point during the incident. The rack caught fire, filling the home with smoke.”

Two residents were inside the home and called 911. The bear scratched at their bedroom door, and its behavior became increasingly erratic and aggressive as the smoke detector activated. Crested Butte marshals and Mt. Crested Butte police department officers arrived and found the bear standing on its hind legs, attempting to break through the living room’s front window, with smoke and flames visible in the kitchen behind it. “Citing the bear’s aggressive behavior, the active fire and limited access to the residence, officers euthanized the animal and then extinguished the kitchen fire,” the fire district release stated.

Information from the Mt. CB police department added that, “Due to the immediate threat posed by the aggressive bear and the presence of occupants inside the residence, officers shot and killed the bear through the front window. Officers were also able to extinguish the kitchen fire prior to the fire department’s arrival. No injuries to the occupants, dog or officers occurred.”

Investigators found no trash, food or other attractants stored outside or in vehicles at the property. The residence had previously experienced a bear entering the home on at least one other occasion.

Be bear aware

Zimmer reinforced the advice most common in bear country. “Residents are reminded that bears can become increasingly persistent and aggressive when searching for food. The biggest things we advise residents to do are to lock all doors, windows and vehicles and to make sure they are using locked, animal-resistant trash and recycling bins.”

“Hopefully we can learn from these things,” concluded Diamond. “We are doing our best to keep them wild. We live in bear country, which is a wonderful thing, but it comes with challenges, especially in a year like this. And it is far from over.”

For more information, go online to: https://cpw.state.co.us/living-bears.