Bear hunt called off after wildlife officials lose trail in southern Colorado

State and federal wildlife officers known as off their hunt for a bear that swatted a lady early Friday morning as she slept in a tent close to Trinidad together with her husband and 2-year-old daughter.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers, alongside a federal crew of search canines, had been on the lookout for the bear since Friday morning, division spokesman Invoice Vogrin stated.

“However they had been unable to catch it,” Vogrin stated. “At this level, there’s no sense in persevering with.”

The bear scratched a lady by the material on her tent early Friday morning, Vogrin stated. She suffered scratches to her head however didn’t search medical remedy.

All the identical, as a result of the bear made contact with a human the encounter was labeled as an assault and officers had been trying to discover and kill the bear. That’s an unlucky consequence, Vogrin stated, as a result of any time people and bears are available contact, the bears are inclined to endure.

“This was not a harmful bear by any stretch,” he stated. “This was a bear that noticed motion in a tent in the dead of night and reacted.”

In one of these scenario killing the bear is often the most suitable choice, Vogrin stated. If officers seize and relocate a bear that has already come to depend on human meals sources — like trash or meals left at campsites — the animals can nonetheless journey a whole bunch of miles again to their authentic location. And their discovered habits of relying on people for meals stays.

Officers looked for a number of days however couldn’t discover the identical bear from the Friday morning encounter, Vogrin stated.

“We’ve acquired canines monitoring a scent and it rained all weekend,” Vogrin stated.

They known as off the search Sunday and determined to coach campers and staff within the space on how they’ll finest keep away from attracting bears with meals, Vogrin stated.

Consultants instructed The Denver Submit earlier this month that Colorado’s black bears look like rising extra brazen of their seek for meals. That is partially as a result of a lot of them have misplaced their worry of people.

Bears are not often aggressive towards people, Vogrin stated. And when they’re state officers step in.

Between 2015 to 2021, Colorado Parks and Wildlife euthanized 775 bears and captured and relocated an extra 402, based on knowledge from the division.