A bear bit a camper through her tent wall near South Fork on Friday, and a bear broke into a 17-year-old girl’s bedroom through a screen window and swatted her early Sunday near Durango, adding to the record number of bear-human conflicts this year.
On Sunday at about 2 a.m., a teen was sleeping inside a Durango condo with a screened window slightly open. The bear tore off the screen, pushed the window wider, and climbed inside while yanking down a curtain as the girl woke up.
The girl pulled blankets over her head, but the bear began sniffing around her shoulders. As she made a noise, the bear huffed and swiped at her, and she felt a paw touch her stomach. The teen screamed and sat up, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said in a release, and the bear jumped back out the window before coming in again.
When the girl began screaming and yelling as the bear came in through the window a second time, it finally turned and left. The victim treated herself for three minor scratch marks, and wildlife officers also noticed bruising around the wounds.
“Based on what we know happened in this encounter, the (victim) is very lucky she had multiple blankets covering her when the bear swiped her,” said district wildlife manager Luke Clancy.
The two new attacks made for a record 10 human-bear conflicts, which are defined as a bear injuring or killing a human. There have been thousands more “contacts” or encounters, which are sightings or confrontations without an injury. Drought and lack of natural food at a time when bears need 20,000 calories a day to prepare for hibernation are pushing the bears into campgrounds, condo complexes and towns in search of trash, dog food, bird feeders and other easy meals.
In the South Fork encounter, at about 5:30 a.m. Friday, a woman in her tent felt a bump against the wall, then she was bitten through the fabric, and she heard a growl. From the Rio Grande National Forest’s Park Creek campground, the woman contacted police, who contacted CPW.
Wildlife officers found a puncture wound on the woman’s right arm that looked like a black bear’s bite, and she was treated by EMS personnel and at Rio Grande Hospital. Officers collected swab samples from the injured area.
Back at the campground, officers found holes and bite marks on the tent, as well as smeared mud. Three claw marks and dirt in a paw impression were on the opposite wall of the tent, and apparent black bear hair was found outside the tent. National Forest officials closed the campground for the rest of the weekend, and it closed for the season Monday.
The South Fork bear appeared to attack out of surprise instead of aggression, and with the campground now closed for the rest of the year, there is no threat and they don’t need to capture the bear, CPW said.
Officials in Durango have set a trap and will try to capture the bear that broke in the condo, as it has demonstrated aggression and an ongoing threat, CPW said. A bear entered another Durango residence nearby Monday morning.
Type of Story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.