As temperatures rise, some bears in Colorado are beginning to wake from their winter slumber, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
CPW is reminding residents to secure food sources and follow best practices to avoid human-bear conflicts.
“Coloradans have lived alongside bears for generations, but our habitats have never overlapped like this before,” CPW said in a statement. “As bears start to wake up, we’re asking everyone to keep easy snacks out of reach to help keep bears wild.”
Southwestern Colorado is seeing early bear activity due to lower snowpack and warmer temperatures, which trigger the animals’ biological response to get up and move. However, CPW notes that bears in Colorado do not hibernate in the traditional sense.
“Bears in Colorado go into torpor, which means they do wake up during the winter months to look for food and replenish their calorie deficit,” CPW spokesperson Kara Van Hoose said. “That happens in Colorado because we don’t have the extremely cold temperatures seen farther north, like in Alaska, where bears truly hibernate.”
To help reduce human-bear conflicts, CPW is offering grants to communities looking to implement bear-aware initiatives, such as bear-proof trash cans. More information on these programs is available on CPW’s website.
