A mama bear and her three cubs have been euthanized after getting into a Colorado dwelling and attacking a resident.
The black bear and her offspring broke into the house of a Lake Metropolis, Colo. couple on Thursday, Oct. 3.
The 74-year-old man and his spouse “have been startled once they heard a loud crash and noticed the bears getting into by means of the door” at roughly 8:30 p.m., Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers mentioned in a press release on Saturday, Oct. 5.
The husband tried to get the animals to depart, utilizing a chair as a barrier between them whereas making an attempt to information the grownup bear out of the door.
As a substitute, the black bear “charged the person, knocking him right into a wall” after which swiped at him. The sufferer sustained “vital wounds from being clawed, together with wounds to the top, neck, each arms, decrease stomach, shoulder and calf.”
The husband and spouse retreated to a bed room and locked themselves in till emergency personnel arrived.
Regardless of his accidents, the person declined to be taken to a hospital and was handled on the scene.
“It’s definitely fortunate we didn’t have a fatality, as a result of it was shut,” mentioned CPW officer Lucas Martin.
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When first responders and different helping businesses arrived, the bears have been nonetheless current. “All 4 bears concerned have been subsequently euthanized,” the press launch acknowledged.
The CPW defined that feeding bears can result in deadly conditions.
“It’s a horrible set of circumstances that, sadly, our District Wildlife Managers are routinely confronted with. Clearly, these bears have been extremely habituated and have been prepared to enter an occupied home with the residents sitting simply ft away,” mentioned CPW Space Wildlife Supervisor Brandon Diamond.
“When a bear reaches this degree of human habituation, clearly numerous interplay with individuals has already occurred, and except communities are working with us collaboratively and speaking points, we’ve got no alternative to intervene,” Diamond added.
Thursday’s incident was the one reported bear assault in Hinsdale County this yr, although there have been eight official reviews of bear exercise.
“When we’ve got a number of sows with a number of cubs on the town and battle is going on primarily based on the continued availability of human meals sources, it creates a really complicated scenario to mitigate,” Martin continued. “Sadly, cub bears which are taught these behaviors by their mom might end in generations of battle between bears and folks.”
“We don’t solely need calls when one thing escalates to this degree,” Martin mentioned of residents sharing data with one another somewhat than reporting them.
“This can be a tragic factor that has occurred, and it occurred as a result of bears proceed to have entry to human meals sources,” he mentioned. “We’ve talked about this for many years — entry to human meals sources, together with trash and chicken feeders, is what results in escalating and generally harmful habits from black bears. The result’s a lose-lose for bears and folks.”
