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Black bears have lived in the foothills and forests of Colorado since long before the pioneers arrived. Today 8,000 to 12,000 black bears are trying to share space with an ever-growing human population. With many more people living and playing in bear country, human-bear encounters are on the rise.

Colorado Bears Have People Problems
Every year, bears attracted to human food sources damage property, vehicles and even homes. Bears don’t know they’re doing anything wrong. They’re just following their super-sensitive noses to the most calories they can find.

Bears that find food around homes, campgrounds and communities often lose their natural wariness of people. Even though black bears are not naturally aggressive and seldom attack or injure people, they are still strong, powerful animals. A bear intent on getting a meal could injure someone who gets in its way. Every year bears that have become too comfort­able around people have to be destroyed.

Bears Need Your Help
The Colorado Division of Wildlife is charged with protecting and preserving the state’s wildlife. Every time we must destroy a bear, it’s not just the bear that loses. We all lose a little piece of the wildness that makes Colorado so special.

Black Bears at a Glance 

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Bears are intelligent, resourceful and amazing animals.

— Black is a species, not a color. In Colorado many black bears are blonde, cinnamon or brown.
— Over 90% of a bear’s natural diet is grasses, berries, fruits, nuts and plants. The rest is primarily insects and scavenged carcasses. 
— Black bears are naturally shy, and very wary of people and other unfamiliar things. Their normal response to any perceived danger is to run away.
— In Colorado, most bears are active from mid-March through early November. When food sources dwindle they head for winter dens.
— With a nose that’s 100 times more sensitive than ours, a bear can literally smell food five miles away.
— Bears are very smart, and have great memories—once they find food, they come back for more.
— During late summer and early fall bears need 20,000 calories a day to gain enough weight to survive the winter without eating or drinking. 
— Bears are not naturally nocturnal, but sometimes travel at night in hopes of avoiding humans.

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Black bears are curious, smart and very adaptable. They’re not fussy and will eat just about anything with calories. Bears want to get the most energy they can with the least amount of effort. Every bear’s goal is to get fat enough to live through the winter.

Bear Calorie Counter
Bird seed (7 lbs) = 12, 180 calories
Dog Food (25 lbs) = 42,425 calories
Peanut Butter (28 oz) = 4,750 calories
Shortening (3 lbs) = 12,430 calories
Berries (1 lb) = 2,000 calories

Most conflicts between people and bears can be traced to easy-to-get-at human food, garbage, pet food, bird seed or other attractants. When people allow bears to find food, a bear’s natural drive to eat can overcome its wariness of humans.

Bears that get too comfortable around people can destroy property or even become a threat to human safety. Habituated bears must often be destroyed. Please don’t let bears die needlessly. Do your part to bear-proof your home and property, and help keep bears alive and wild.

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Much of what people throw away smells like food to a hungry bear. Standard metal or plastic trash cans won’t keep out bears. Once bears learn where it’s easy to get at the garbage, they’ll come back again and again.

Never leave trash or recyclables out overnight. Empty cans and boxes still smell like food. One study showed that simply putting trash out the morning of pick up cuts the chances of a bear visit from 70% to 2%.

If you must leave trash outside, buy a bear-proof container, build a bear-proof enclosure or install an electric fence. To avoid attracting bears, clean con­tainers regularly with ammonia or bleach.

Bears that learn garbage = food sometimes come inside homes looking for more. Don’t make it easy for bears to visit; keep bear-accessible win­dows and doors in your home and garage locked.

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Studies show that a big meal of tasty, nutritious seeds — a natural food for bears — is often the first reward a bear gets for exploring human places. Letting your bird feeders turn into bear feeders teaches bears that it’s safe to come close to people and homes looking for food. And for bears that can be a deadly lesson.

We recommend not feeding birds during the months when bears are active.

Instead, use water features, plant­ings, nest boxes and flowers to attract birds. Use bird feeders only when bears are hibernating.

If you don’t want to stop feeding birds, you need to hang your feeders at least ten feet off the ground and ten feet away from anything bears can climb.

Keep the area underneath feeders clean and free of bird seed and hulls, or switch to a hulled bird seed with no waste.

Never store bird seed outside, under your deck, or in a garage or shed a bear could break into. A 50-pound bag of bird seed has over 87,000 calories—a reward for the bear and well worth the effort of breaking in.

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Get in the habit of being bear-responsible. It’s like recycling — at first it’s a little extra effort, but soon it becomes a better way to live. And you can be proud you’re helping to make Colorado a better place for people and bears.

• Don’t feed bears, and don’t put out food for other wildlife that attracts bears. 
• Be responsible about trash and bird feeders.
• Burn food off barbeque grills and clean after each use.
• Keep all bear-accessible windows and doors closed and locked, including home, garage and vehicle doors.
• Don’t leave food, trash, coolers, air fresheners or anything that smells in your vehicle.
  n Pick fruit before it ripens, and clean up fallen fruit.
• Talk to your neighbors about doing their part to be bear-responsible.

If You See a Bear
If a bear comes near your home, do your best to chase it away. Yell, blow a whistle, clap your hands, and make other loud noises. But never approach or corner a bear.

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Through Bear Aware
Bear Aware volunteers can answer questions, offer practical advice and even make house calls. They also do educational programs and staff informational booths at events. To find a Bear Aware volunteer in your area or join or form a Bear Aware team, call your local office.

Colorado is fortunate to have Linda Masterson, author of Living with Bears: A Practical Guide to Bear Country as one of our Bear Aware Team volunteers. Please visit www.livingwithbears.org for more information about this book and how to live responsibly in bear country.

Division of Wildlife Offices
Division offices are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For after-hours emergencies, contact the Colorado State Patrol or your local Sheriff’s Department.

Division Headquarters—Administrative Offices: 6060 Broadway, Denver, CO 80216, (303) 297-1192

Office and Phone Number	Office and Phone Number	Office and Phone Number
Brush—(970) 842-6300	Grand Junction—(970) 255-6100	Montrose—(970) 252-6000
Colorado Springs—(719) 227-5200	Gunnison—(970) 641-7060	Pueblo—(719) 561-5300
Denver—(303) 291-7227	Hot Sulphur Springs—(970) 725-6200	Salida—(719) 530-5520
Durango—(970) 247-0855	Lamar—(719) 336-6600	Steamboat Springs—(970) 870-2197
Ft Collins—(970) 472-4300	Meeker—(970) 878-6090
Glenwood Springs—(970) 947-2920	Monte Vista—(719) 587-6900