Video: Low snow could limit food for bears

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Bob Berwyn

VIDEO: Jenney Coberly interviews Gail Marshall about Summit County's Bear Aware program. Click on the image to see the video interview and learn more about volunteering.

Drought can lead to more problem encounters; Colorado Division of Wildlife looking for volunteers to reduce potential conflicts between humans and bears

By Bob Berwyn

Video by Jenney Coberly

SUMMIT COUNTY — Every year, state wildlife managers and law enforcement officers have to kill bears for doing what comes naturally  — foraging for food. But it’s not the bears out in the woods eating grubs and berries that are a problem.

Concerns don’t arise until the wild animals sample human food from unsecured garbage cans, bird feeders or backyard barbecues. Once they’ve acquired the taste, they tend to keep coming back for more. That’s when unwanted encounters with humans occur, and they usually end badly for the bears.

Bears who get into serious trouble (such as breaking into a house or other property damage) are ear-tagged the first time and usually transported to a new area as far from humans as possible. But, if the tagged bear gets into serious trouble a second time, the state’s wildlife management policy calls for the bear to be killed. (more…)

Filed under: Colorado Division of Wildlife, Summit County Colorado, video, wildlife | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

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