Hungry Bears On The Move Looking For Food
BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (CBS4)- It's becoming a dangerous trend toward the end of summer as hungry bears try to find food-- bears seen wandering through neighborhoods and towns.
"There's been more activity in recent days. This is the time of year they're active and hungry," said Breckenridge Police Sgt. Matthew Collver.
Bears have entered hyperfasia, their yearly feast where they try and eat 20,000 calories a day.
Breckenridge police say a majority of recent bear calls are related to trash.
"For the most part it's bears trying to get food. They have a sense of smell, five times better than humans so they can smell it from a long way away," said Collver.
Sometimes bears can smell food up to five miles away. A bear can travel nearly 60 miles in search of food. But the biggest attraction is trash.
"This time of year we have a lower tolerance and issue more citations for trash violations, again the bears are just looking for an easy meal and so it's more of a people problem than a bear problem," said Collver.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife said they don't need to be called every time a bear is seen running through a town. They do need to be called when there is a threatening bear or a bear that is no longer afraid of humans. That becomes a safety issue and the bear will likely have to be destroyed.
"We live here because we love the outdoors, we love the wildlife, people come to visit because of the wildlife but we want to keep the wildlife that way," said Collver.
Bears are not just an issue for homeowners, wildlife officials said campers must also be bear aware as well.
