Bear and Her 3 Cubs Euthanized After Breaking Into Colorado Home

A mama bear and her three cubs were euthanized after entering a Colorado home and attacking a resident.

The black bear and her offspring broke into the home of a Lake City, Colo. couple on Thursday, Oct. 3.

The 74-year-old man and his wife “were startled when they heard a loud crash and saw the bears entering through the door” at approximately 8:30 p.m., Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said in a press release on Saturday, Oct. 5.

The husband tried to get the animals to leave, using a chair as a barrier between them while attempting to guide the adult bear out of the door. 

Instead, the black bear “charged the man, knocking him into a wall” and then swiped at him. The victim sustained “significant wounds from being clawed, including wounds to the head, neck, both arms, lower abdomen, shoulder and calf.”

The husband and wife retreated to a bedroom and locked themselves in until emergency personnel arrived.

Despite his injuries, the man declined to be taken to a hospital and was treated at the scene. 

“It’s certainly lucky we didn’t have a fatality, because it was close,” said CPW officer Lucas Martin.

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When first responders and other assisting agencies arrived, the bears were still present. “All four bears involved were subsequently euthanized,” the press release stated.

The CPW explained that feeding bears can lead to fatal situations. 

“It’s a terrible set of circumstances that, unfortunately, our District Wildlife Managers are routinely faced with. Clearly, these bears were highly habituated and were willing to enter an occupied house with the residents sitting just feet away,” said CPW Area Wildlife Manager Brandon Diamond.

“When a bear reaches this level of human habituation, clearly a lot of interaction with people has already happened, and unless communities are working with us collaboratively and communicating issues, we have no opportunity to intervene,” Diamond added.

Thursday’s incident was the only reported bear attack in Hinsdale County this year, though there have been eight official reports of bear activity.

“When we have multiple sows with multiple cubs in town and conflict is occurring based on the ongoing availability of human food sources, it creates a very complex situation to mitigate,” Martin continued. “Unfortunately, cub bears that are taught these behaviors by their mother may result in generations of conflict between bears and people.” 

“We don’t only want calls when something escalates to this level,” Martin said of residents sharing info with each other rather than reporting them.

“This is a tragic thing that has happened, and it happened because bears continue to have access to human food sources,” he said. “We’ve talked about this for decades — access to human food sources, including trash and bird feeders, is what leads to escalating and sometimes dangerous behavior from black bears. The result is a lose-lose for bears and people.”