Family of Bears Take Up Residence in Boulder, Colorado
OutdoorHub Reporters 09.05.13
A sow and two cubs have been seen camped out in a tree on Boulder’s University Hill neighborhood, and they certainly got the attention of wildlife officials. According to ABC 7, the bears remained in the tree for the majority of Tuesday. Concerned residents quickly flooded the Boulder Police Department with calls. Although no police officers were dispatched to keep an eye on the situation, several wildlife officers did arrive on the scene.
While black bears are not an uncommon sight in Boulder, officers from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department are worried that the sow might cause a confrontation. The 200-pound female had been tagged in the past and relocated before. Due to Colorado’s two-strike rule, the bear will have to be put down if another relocation is required. Unfortunately, because her cubs have little likelihood of surviving without her, they will have to be euthanized as well.
“This bear has been around town eating a lot of trash and teaching her young cubs that as well,” said wildlife officer Jennifer Churchill. “That’s a real concern for us at this point. We want to make sure this bear stays safe. She’s pretty close to good bear habitat and if we have an opportunity to push her that way, we will do so.”
Churchill and two other wildlife officers stayed with the bears until dark, when the animals climbed down the tree and departed. It is likely that the bears stayed in the tree to avoid humans. CBS4 reports that that bears have not been seen on Wednesday and officials believe they have left for higher ground. It is believed that the sow was drawn to the area because of easily available trash.
“We have a really serious problem throughout the foothills and a lot of bear habitat where people leave trash accessible to wild animals,” Churchill said. “Unfortunately, you have a situation with a bear like this, teaching her young that behavior. That’s when we have bears wanting to get into trouble, become a nuisance and become aggressive on occasion.”
Readers may be familiar with Boulder’s bear problem. The University of Colorado Boulder was in focus last year after the capture of an infamous picture of a tranquilized bear falling from a tree on-campus.
