Bear Numbers
Bear sightings and incidents:
2026 through Aug. 31: 8,672 reports of bear-related 2025 through Aug. 31: 3,680
Relocating bears same time period
2026: 98 bears
2025: 33
Bears euthanized same time period
2026: 294
2025: 83
With Colorado’s bears facing natural food shortages due to drought, some have asked why Colorado Parks and Wildlife does not provide supplemental feeding for bears, as it sometimes does for ungulates like deer and elk.
The agency says those are very different situations.
Speaking at the Wednesday, Sept. 2 meeting of the CPW Commission, CPW Director Laura Clellan said bears are increasingly venturing into areas where they are in conflict with humans this year. Historic drought and wildfires have left the state’s black bears with a diminished natural food supply.
“Our wildlife officers across the state have been responding to a record number of bear reports,” Clellan said. “As we begin to move from late summer to fall black bears enter hyperphasia. It’s a natural phase where they spend up to 20 hours per day searching for food as they build the fat reserves that they need to survive the winter.”
As of Aug 31, CPW reported that there were 8,672 reports of bear-related sightings and incidents, compared to 3,680 reports through August 2025. The agency has relocated 98 bears this year, compared to 33 bears relocated through August 2025. It has also euthanized 294 bears this year, compared to 83 bears euthanized through August 2025.
“(Drought, low snow pack, fires) has reduced the availability of natural foods such as berries, fruits, nuts, plants and grasses in parts of Colorado,” Clellan said. “Consequently bears are traveling further into residential neighborhoods in search of easy calorie sources.”
During especially harsh winters, CPW will provide supplemental food to the state’s big game ungulate herds like deer and elk. Clellan said doing the same for black bears is dangerous for both humans and bears.
“Black bear ecology and behavior are fundamentally different from those of the big game ungulates,” Clellan said. “Ungulates are herd animals. They can share food sources with relatively little conflict. Black bears are solitary, territorial. They have large home ranges.
“Concentrating hungry bears around piles of food causes overcrowding, sparks potentially deadly territorial fights, puts dependent cubs at risk and could increase the issue of disease transmission.”
She said supplemental feeding of bears can also change black bear behavior, including when they begin to hibernate for the winter. It can also lead to bears associating humans with food.
The decision not to provide supplemental food is not out of a lack of concern for the state’s bears, she said. It is an established policy based on what is best for bears.
“The best outcome for both bears and people is for bears to remain wild, wary of humans and reliant on naturally available foods,” Clellan said. “CPW has a policy that was adopted in 2013 on this topic.”
