BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers euthanized a tagged bear they say had a history of dangerous behavior after the animal was spotted getting into trash cans in Boulder Tuesday.
Wildlife officers tranquilized the boar (male) bear and later euthanized it at a CPW shop after responding to Oak Street in north Boulder following reports the bear was exhibiting aggressive behavior, according to a release from the agency.
“The City of Boulder is not a good place for bears to live and forage,” said Area Wildlife Manager Kristin Cannon. “CPW tries many different things to prevent bears from living in the city and a vast majority of the time these do not result in the death of a bear. Unfortunately, in this instance, it did.”
The 243-pound bear had bluff charged Boulder park rangers and CPW wildlife officers after they responded to the area, the release read. It is the first bear in Boulder County that has been put down this year, officers said.
The CPW said the bear, estimated to be 8-10 years old, had a history of aggressive behavior and getting into garbage repeatedly over the past three years. In 2015, it was relocated out of east Boulder.
A necropsy revealed its stomach contents was full of trash and wrappers from food products, and no normal food forage was found in its stomach, the release read.
“Removing this bear will not solve any of the issues Boulder has with bears and it is still up to its residents to take responsibility for securing garbage, fruit, beehives, chickens, compost, grills and bird feeders from bears,” Cannon said, adding that there are currently four to six bears utilizing Boulder on a somewhat frequent basis.
Since April, CPW has received 102 bear incident reports out of Boulder County. Most of those incidents required little or no action by officers. However, hazing tactics were used on four bears, and three have been relocated.