Emergency officials warned residents of an “aggressive” bear Tuesday evening in west Durango.
A Code Red alert from “La Plata Emergency” was issued at 8:15 p.m. to residents in the Delwood Avenue and Arroyo Drive neighborhoods. The alerts, sent by text and phone call, urged residents to stay indoors.
Durango Police Department sent the alert after the bear had reportedly entered an unoccupied home, said John Livingston, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman.
By the time DPD and CPW officers made it to the scene, the bear had left the house and was found lingering in the area, Livingston said.
It did not respond to hazing techniques, and attempts by CPW officers to tranquilize it were unsuccessful, at which point the code red alert was sent out.
The alert was largely to inform the residents about the large law enforcement presence in the area, Livingston said.
CPW officers chased the bear through the residential area, as far down as north Main Avenue, but they were unable to catch it.
As of now, the bear remains “at-large.”
If caught, CPW will euthanize it.
“We all want to help wildlife persist and thrive in their natural habitat, and help our populations continue to thrive,” Livingston said. “But in situations such as this, we just can't have bears inside people's homes.”
Colorado has a two-strike policy for black bears. If CPW receives a call about a bear rifling through trash, a car trunk or a kitchen – wildlife officers capture it, mark it and relocate it to the wild.
If the same bear is then caught engaging in similar behavior a second time – it’s euthanized.
As of July 14, Colorado Parks and Wildlife had logged 231 bear sightings or incidents in La Plata County, Livingston said last week.
“It’s always alarming when we get a lot of incidents this early in the summer, but it’s not totally uncommon for Durango,” he said.
Around late summer and early fall, bears are on the hunt for more food as they prepare for winter hibernation.
“So bears get more active and more involved in conflicts with humans, typically the time of year where they’re trying to just really pack on those pounds late and are desperate for calories,” Livingston said.
In recent years ‒ and especially this year ‒ bear conflicts involving chicken coops have been slightly higher than usual, which Livingston attributed to an increase in “hobby chicken farming.” That trend is especially notable northeast of city limits along Florida Road (County Road 240).
Livingston recommended electric fencing as the best way to protect chicken coops but noted that it’s only permitted outside city limits, since Durango prohibits electric fencing.
In addition to chicken coops, human food and garbage are major attractants.
Bear Smart Durango fielded 42 reports of bears in July ‒ 86% of which involved a human food source, according to a post on the organization’s Facebook page.
Bear Smart Durango and CPW urge residents to report bear sightings immediately.
A common misconception is that calling CPW to report a bear will lead to it being trapped, relocated and potentially euthanized, Livingston said ‒ but that is usually not the case.
“We want to encourage people to call us early while we still have a chance to intervene, without ever having to set a trap,” he said.
jbowman@durangoherald.com
