Bear warning issued for Colorado parks

Authorities in Colorado are warning vacationers to beware of extra bear activity as the animals emerge from hibernation this spring.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife issued the special alert last week. It comes as bear sightings are on the rise and conflicts between wildlife and animals are becoming more frequent in the state.

CPW tips include keeping food hidden away while picnicking in parks and securing trash receptacles so that the bears can’t get at the food waste inside them at night.

The agency said conflicts are mainly arising because careless individuals are leaving food out in the open. This is especially dangerous after the bears emerge from winter hibernation because they’ve gone months without food and need to fill up on whatever forage is available quickly to restore themselves.

“Their bodies need to adjust to the fact that they haven’t consumed anything for up to five or six months,” said CPW and Furbearer Program Manager Mark Vieira.

Vieira added that bears newly emerged from hibernation are in “walking hibernation” mode whereby they eat almost any edible vegetation they can come across to prepare their systems for the more typical omnivorous diets they’ve evolved to survive.

“Every time a bear gets food from or near humans, whether from a bird feeder, a hummingbird feeder, or trash, it teaches the bear that people equal food,” said CPW area wildlife manager Tim Kroening.