Reports and Sightings Escalate to Dramatic Levels; Experts Warn About Staying “Bear-Wise”
Trevor Phipps
Everyone who lives in Colorado has noticed a big spike in human versus bear encounters, especially this summer.
From the mountain towns to the foothills, bears have become more prominent throughout 2026 than they have in previous years.
Many locals in Woodland Park have frequent stories of bear sightings, including a group of five bears that recently walked through a resident’s yard one evening. Others have stories of their dogs scaring bears up a tree.
Moreover, places close to mountainous terrain, such as Green Mountain Falls, have especially experienced an increase in bear activity. Some say that it’s impossible to walk around downtown GMF without having a bear encounter.
Overall, human and bear-related sighting incidents have more than doubled over last year, according to the state’s Department of Parks and Wildlife (CPW). There also has been an increase in bears attacking humans, which never took place at the level that has occurred this summer. But luckily, no attacks have occurred in the Ute Pass region.
According to stats provided by CPW, from Jan. 1 through Aug. 31 the state has recorded 8,672 reports of bear-related sightings and incidents, compared to 3,680 reports through August 2025. CPW had to relocate 98 troublesome bears this year compared to 33 last year. This year CPW has been forced to euthanize 294 bears due to dangerous human interactions versus only 83 bears killed last year.
“While the reported numbers through August are an increase from annual reports over the last five years, agency response has remained proportional to the number of reported incidents,” a CPW press release stated. “The number of reported incidents in 2026 to date is 3.6 times the current 5-year average (2020-2025) level. Tracking this figure, relocations have increased by 3.5 times and euthanizations by 2.7 times compared to their respective five-year averages.”
Teller County Experiences a Huge Increase in Bear Activity Due to Low Food Levels
According to CPW Wildlife Officer Drew Vrbenec, who serves Woodland Park and the north part of Teller County, the agency has experienced a big increase in bear activity in Teller County along with the rest of the state. Vrbenec said that from Woodland Park all the way down Ute Pass and into Colorado Springs, the region’s wildlife officers have been “super busy” dealing with human and bear encounters throughout 2026.
The main culprit is the super-dry conditions that have persisted throughout 2026.
“It kind of kicked off last winter with our historically low snowpacks,” Vrbenec said about the local increase in bear activity. “It just kind of set our spring off wrong. And then we didn’t get any of that spring/early summer moisture. We didn’t get those big couple feet of snow events in the spring. Then the summer dried up and I think the moisture we have gotten lately is too little too late.”
The wildlife officer said that the increase in bear activity has been due to Mother Nature and not because of humans attracting more bears into town. “We are facing a food failure,” Vrbenec said. “When the natural food isn’t available out on the landscape, those bears are going to find food one way or the other. With that, they are moving right into town getting into bird feeders, trash, pet food, unclean grills, literally anything. And it’s even got to the point where bears are breaking into garage doors to get into people’s deep freezers and trash that is stored inside the garage.”
The wildlife officer said that, in most local bear encounters he has handled; residents did nothing to worsen the situation. Most act responsibly and avoid careless practices such as leaving food or trash outdoors.
“A lot of the cases I’ve been to, the homeowner has zero attractants out,” Vrbenec said. “And usually, I can say with a whole bunch of confidence that if there aren’t any attractants out, there’s not going to be a bear. But this year it’s slightly different and that’s not exactly the case.”
Staying Bear-Wise and Scaring the Wild Animals Away
However, the wildlife officer said that there have still been some issues mainly with short-term rental properties. He wanted to remind everyone, and even those visiting the area, not to leave trash out overnight and don’t leave anything a bear could want to eat outside.
CPW offers more tips on living with bears at bearwise.org.
But if bears do keep returning to a property (even if there is nothing left out to attract them) there are ways CPW says that people can scare them away. This could stop the bears from continuing to frequent local neighborhoods.
“If you see a bear, it’s awesome that you get that opportunity here in Colorado (specifically Teller County). It’s one of the reasons we all live up here and enjoy up here,” Vrbenec said.
“But if you do see one, I ask you to do the responsible thing and do your part in wildlife management. After you take your photos from a safe distance, you get that bear moving on. Yell at it, clap your hands, bang pots and pans together, or throw what we call rattle cans (soda cans filled with rocks and gravel)at it. Get that bear moving on and keep it uncomfortable with people, so we don’t risk attacks or break-ins or things like that.”
The bears are expected to be very active in the next several weeks as they search for food for hibernation. Bear interactions are expected to then decrease next year if the area receives more moisture this winter and spring.
