Colorado Parks & Wildlife Tracking Bear-Human Encounters

DENVER (CBS4)- Colorado Parks and Wildlife is taking a closer look at encounters between bears and humans. They're focusing specifically on the past year.

From April 1, 2019 through the end of the year, CPW documented 517 reports of bears entering buildings, 303 vehicle break-ins, and more than 5,000 encounters total.

The campaign is designed to stop those interactions which could ultimately save bears.

Some of those include building bear "unwelcome mats" which help keep bears away from homes.

"You want to have the nails two inches apart in a grid format and have the nails poking out about an inch and a half to two inches, that way the spacing allows for the bears to not to want to put all their body weight on that and prevent them from accessing different things," said CPW District Wildlife Manager Chase Rylands.

Wildlife officers say a third of the bear reports involved trash and it's also the leading reason bears get used to being around people.