Authorities made the difficult decision to euthanize a mama bear and her three cubs. This came after the bears broke into a Colorado home and attacked a man living there. The incident happened in Lake City on October 3.
According to a Colorado Parks and Wildlife press release, the 74-year-old man and his wife "were startled when they heard a loud crash and saw the bears entering through the door." The man used a chair as a barrier and tried to get the animals to leave. Unfortunately, the mama bear "charged the man, knocking him into a wall." The animal also swiped at him causing "significant wounds from being clawed, including wounds to the head, neck, both arms, lower abdomen, shoulder and calf."
They locked themselves in their bedroom and called 911. "It's certainly lucky we didn't have a fatality, because it was close," said CPW officer Lucas Martin. The bears were still in the home when first responders arrived. "All four bears involved were subsequently euthanized," the press release stated.
CPW blamed people's activity on the deaths.
"It's a terrible set of circumstances that, unfortunately, our District Wildlife Managers are routinely faced with. Clearly, these bears were highly habituated. And were willing to enter an occupied house with the residents sitting just feet away," said CPW Area Wildlife Manager Brandon Diamond. "When a bear reaches this level of human habituation, clearly a lot of interaction with people has already happened. And unless communities are working with us collaboratively and communicating issues, we have no opportunity to intervene," Diamond added.
Mama Bear And Cubs Euthanized
Martin also weighed in on the mama bear and cubs' deaths
"When we have multiple sows with multiple cubs in town. And conflict is occurring based on the ongoing availability of human food sources, it creates a very complex situation to mitigate," Martin continued. "Unfortunately, cub bears that are taught these behaviors by their mother may result in generations of conflict between bears and people."
"We don't only want calls when something escalates to this level," Martin said.
"This is a tragic thing that has happened. And it happened because bears continue to have access to human food sources," he said. "We've talked about this for decades — access to human food sources, including trash and bird feeders, is what leads to escalating and sometimes dangerous behavior from black bears. The result is a lose-lose for bears and people."
