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A bear walks out holding an object after sneaking into a fire station in Colorado Springs, Colorado, US
Matt Errico was sitting on the toilet in his Granby home when he heard strange sounds coming from the corridor. When he went to check, he found two young black bears, about the size of golden retrievers, standing in his hallway.
After a brief staring match, the bears ran out through the front door. The incident in the small mountain town northwest of Denver is far from unusual. Black bears have also been found inside a Granby vape shop, walked past a school in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and climbed a tree near a farmers market in Denver. Colorado has recorded more than 7,000 bear sightings in 2026, already passing its previous full-year record set in 2019, according to state wildlife figures.
A detailed investigation by Reuters explains how severe drought across the American West has pushed hungry bears into towns and cities in record numbers.
Record drought cuts wild food supplies
The rise in bear encounters comes after the driest winter on record. The conditions destroyed much of the natural vegetation, berries, grasses and nuts that make up about 90 per cent of a black bear’s diet. "I've definitely never heard of bears inside, you know, cubs inside someone's house," Errico told Reuters, describing his experience in Granby.
Desperate to find enough food before winter, bears are using their strong sense of smell to find food in human settlements.
Rubbish, bird feeders and shops can all provide easy sources of food. Wildlife experts are increasingly worried about the long-term effect of environmental changes on bear behaviour. "It is like testing the bears and humans in a new way," Jon Beckmann, a black bear expert, said in comments to Reuters.
Climate models predict that the Western United States will continue to become drier. Biologists fear bears could become used to eating human food or change their normal hibernation patterns if warm and dry winters continue.
Decades of human expansion into bear territory
The environmental crisis is happening alongside major population growth across the region. Over the past 50 years, Colorado’s population has more than doubled, pushing housing developments into wildlife corridors and feeding areas around mountain communities such as Vail and Colorado Springs.
At the same time, black bear numbers have recovered across much of the West after the animals were almost wiped out in some areas a century ago.
State wildlife officials estimate that Colorado is now home to between 17,000 and 20,000 black bears, making them one of the healthiest bear populations among the world’s eight bear species. The combination of more bears, expanding towns and shrinking natural food supplies has increased conflicts between people and wildlife.
Colorado has recorded at least six direct bear attacks on people this year.
Rising deaths and managing conflicts
The increase in encounters can have deadly results for bears. Hundreds of bears across Western states are being shot, electrocuted or euthanised after entering residential areas. Jonathan Livingston, a spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, told Reuters that between 1.5 per cent and 2 per cent of reported sightings end with a bear being euthanised.
State authorities generally remove and kill bears that enter occupied homes or show aggressive behaviour towards people.
Livingston said early reports from residents give wildlife officers the best chance of scaring bears away with non-lethal methods before the animals learn to depend on human buildings and food. Many encounters begin with simple problems, such as unlocked rubbish bins or bird feeders left outside. But these food sources can bring residents face-to-face with black bears weighing between 200 and 400 pounds and carrying three-to-four-inch claws. Community conservation groups, including the Colorado Bear Coalition, are calling on local authorities to introduce stronger rules requiring bear-resistant rubbish containers. Field biologists warn that the problem could become worse as autumn approaches and bears enter hyperphagia, a period of intense eating when they consume large amounts of food to build fat reserves before winter hibernation. Heather Reich, a Nevada bear expert and former wildlife agency officer, said she is deeply concerned about what could happen in the coming months as bears search more aggressively for food. "We can't imagine how September and October will look. It's going to be Armageddon," Reich told Reuters.
