2 Bears In 2 Days Found Shot & Killed In Neighborhood
By Jeff Todd
ESTES PARK, Colo. (CBS4)- Kim Beery could hear the 450-pound male bear outside her bedroom. The animals are a pretty common occurrence around late summer, but she never heard a gunshot.
"It was breathing really heavily and growling," Beery said about the commotion Wednesday around 3:30 a.m. "The bear was right outside the bedroom making lots of noise. I thought he was trying to get in the car. So I left him alone and he quieted down."
She could not believe the next morning when Estes Park police and Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials started their poaching investigation, or that they would be back on Thursday for the same reason.
"While our officers were up yesterday they had reports of a second bear up a tree, they did check the second bear up the tree out and the bear looked like it was okay," said Larry Rogstad, the Area Wildlife Manager for Colorado Parks and Wilflife. "We found the same cause of death as the second bear."
Two bears, two days apart, both found shot and killed in the neighborhood near Aspen Avenue, southeast of downtown Estes Park.
Beery says the bears have been common around her neighborhood for years.
"I don't walk the dog in the evening because that's when the bears are out, and you keep your trash in bear proof containers, and you don't leave bird feeders out at night that type of thing," she said. "We have other bears, there's a cinnamon bear that's around here, I haven't seen him recently, but I know these two had been around for quite a while."
A motive and a suspect are still unknown. CPW is asking for tips to come in to the Operation Game Thief hotline at (877)265-6648. Estes Park police are also asking for tips at 970-577-3838.
A reward is possible for information that leads to an arrest. Estes Park police are looking into potential charges that could include a felony count.
With the suspect still at large, and other bears spotted in the same neighborhood Thursday afternoon, police are concerned the crime could happen again.
"This action is reckless and more it is dangerous," said Estes Park Police Captain Eric Rose. "We won't stand for it."
Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.
