Ear-tagged bear euthanized in Boulder after failed relocation, hazing attempts

Kara Van Hoose
Northeast Region Public Information Officer
303-829-7143 / [email protected]

July 12, 2023

Ear-tagged bear euthanized in Boulder after failed relocation, hazing attempts

 

BOULDER, Colo. – Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers euthanized an ear-tagged black bear Wednesday morning after it repeatedly returned to eat trash and became habituated, showing little fear of people.

The bear was reported to CPW in early June for getting into trash and other nuisance issues in south Boulder. CPW officers, with the assistance of Boulder Animal Protection and Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, tagged and relocated the bear into remote habitat for human protection and to encourage the bear to search for food in the wild.

The same black bear was spotted rummaging through trash on 16th Street in Boulder a few weeks after relocation. On multiple occasions, Boulder Animal Protection officers hazed the bear with pepper spray. During a different encounter, wildlife officers attempted to haze the bear from the area with tasers. The bear was unresponsive to two taser deployments and aggressively charged at wildlife officers. A CPW officer shot the charging bear with a rubber bullet to stop its advance. The bear ran away from the area. These events happened in the middle of the day, which is an unusual time for bears to be actively foraging in the city.

Wednesday morning, CPW was notified of a bear in a tree near 16th Street and Baseline Road. Officers identified the bear by its ear tag as the same one from the relocation that had displayed concerning behavior towards officers in late June. Due to the escalation in behavior and habitual trash issues, CPW euthanized the bear for human safety. 

“Working with the city of Boulder, we did absolutely everything we could think of to avoid this outcome,” said Tyler Asnicar, a wildlife officer with CPW. “At the end of the day, human safety is our priority so we felt we had to remove the bear.”

The bear was a sub-adult female, estimated to be around 18 months old. At that age, bears are independent but not old enough to have cubs.

In a separate instance, wildlife officers relocated an adult black bear from the University of Colorado Boulder on Tuesday afternoon. Officers made the decision to move the bear as it had not shown any aggressive behavior and had not been previously relocated. 

“In this instance we just had a bear that found itself in a busy part of town on a college campus. We moved it to try to reduce the chance it would have a negative encounter with people and to give it the opportunity to find a better, more natural habitat,” Asnicar stated.

In 2023, CPW officers have been proactive in trying to reduce human-bear conflict in Boulder and the surrounding area. Officers gave presentations on co-existing with bears in Eldorado Springs on Tuesday and in the Hillsdale neighborhood of Boulder on July 6. Additionally, they have been working to educate visitors to the Boulder Farmers Market, providing information on how to live with and protect bears. Officers have also conducted several night patrols to try to haze bears away from the city.

CPW estimates there are between 17,000 and 20,000 black bears living in the state. Trash is the largest source of conflict with bears, and they can smell food from five miles away. Once bears identify trash as a food source, they will return to the same area to feast. Keeping trash secured, using bear-proof trash cans or keeping garbage inside until the morning of pick-up will help keep bears out of human spaces. Locking doors and windows will prevent bears from learning how to open entryways to obtain food. 

 

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