A 39-year-old woman walking her dogs was found dead Friday night after an apparent bear attack, according to a Colorado Parks and Wildlife release.
The woman's body was found off U.S. Highway 550 near Trimble, north of Durango.
According to the La Plata County Sheriff's office, the woman's boyfriend said the victim went walking with her two dogs earlier Friday.
When the boyfriend returned home later in the evening, he found the two dogs but the woman was missing.
The boyfriend found the woman's body around 9:30 p.m. and called 911 to report the incident.
Wildlife officers responded and observed signs of consumption on the body and an abundance of bear scat and hair at the scene.
A dog team quickly found a sow (female) black bear with two yearlings nearby. The bears were euthanized and are being taken to CPW's Wildlife Health Lab in Fort Collins for a necropsy, according to the CPW release.
An examination of the sow's teeth led wildlife officers to believe she was over 10 years old.
DNA evidence from the bears and the scene will be sent to Laramie for testing at the Wyoming Game and Fish Wildlife Forensic & Fish Health Laboratory.
"Bear attacks are extremely rare," said CPW Southwest Region manager Cory Chick in the release. "This is a tragic event and a sad reminder that bears are wild and potentially dangerous. Out of an abundance of caution, the bears were removed for public safety. We ask the public to report any encounter with an aggressive bear to CPW."
The CPW said they have received a few reports from the Durango area of bears becoming active this spring.
Bears are active statewide and it is important to be Bear Aware. To learn more about how to be safe in bear country, visit the CPW website.
Fatal bear attacks in Colorado
July 25, 1971: A honeymooning couple was attacked while tent camping near Grand Lake in Grand County. A large older bear entered the tent, injured the woman and pulled the 31-year-old man away from the campsite. The man was killed. The bear was later found and destroyed. Further examination of the black bear found that it had worn, abscessed teeth and a plastic bucket in its stomach.
Aug. 10, 1993: A 24-year-old Buena Vista man was attacked and killed after a male bear broke into a camper 20 miles north of Cotopaxi in Fremont County, presumably in a search for food. The camper tried to stop the attack by shooting at the bear, but it only injured the animal. The bear was injured by a bullet that grazed its rib cage, possibly increasing the intensity of the attack. A 250-pound, very aggressive male black bear with a fresh bullet wound to the rib cage was trapped and destroyed six days later. A necropsy on the bear revealed human remains in its digestive system.
Aug. 7, 2009: A 74-year-old woman was killed and partially eaten by a bear or bears at her home near Ouray, in Ouray County. As sheriff's deputies were investigating the scene, they were approached by a 250-pound, 5-year-old male black bear that exhibited aggressive behavior. Deputies shot and killed the bear after it approached them and showed no fear of people. Results of the necropsy on that bear were inconclusive as to whether it was involved in the original incident. Early the next morning, federal wildlife officers killed a 394-pound, mature male black bear that approached the home and exhibited aggressive behavior. A necropsy on the large older boar revealed human remains and remnants of clothing in its digestive system. A CPW investigation determined the victim illegally fed bears through a fence in her yard.
Should not the bear and cubs have been taken deeper into the wilderness? Oh I forgot, Colorado is now a foreign country and they are going to turn this great state into a concrete jungle. This is not Asheville where bears are pets and the deer are gone. But Colorado does allow deer to be pets, as plentiful as prairie dogs, making Colorado very inviting for hungry bears and mountain lions. But it's okay, we in New Mexico know where to get our food, if the SHTF. And they want to take away your guns, so there's that, as well. My kids grandmother tells a story of camping in the deep mountains with their grandfather. That night a big black bear walked right into their camp. He shot it dead. Bear grease is very prized around there. So, all in all, it was a good trip. Note to yourself, consider walking your dogs in town during the spring when mama bears are feeding the baby bears. Note to Colorado, chop down the mountains and grow more weed. You can always move to Boca Raton when you have made your first million. No one will ever notice the difference.
Carolina The tragedy is, once they have fed on a human, they are felt to be likely to do it again. They come to see humans as food. Same with gators, which we have in my area. Sadly, they must be put down if they go that route.
Wrong word. Euthanize means to kill mercifully and as pain-free as possible to prevent the subject from suffering. They shot these bears as quickly and as dead as they could I would assume, to make sure they didn't get away. The whole point was to be sure they were dead, not to prevent them from suffering.
This guy must be one of the writers who called the antifa/blm riots "mostly peaceful demonstrations".
As far as killing the cubs, that's unfortunate but there are plenty of reasons that might have been justified. I'm not qualified to judge. I do know conservation officers and wildlife biologists are much better at their jobs than politicians and journalists so my guess is it was the right call.
Reader Comments
AND as cracker pops why kill the cubs?!!
Great full comment Carolina.
DO NOT FREEZE UP and stare at it.
This is an attack pose.
This is a threat to the bear.
Don't look at it, casually turn and walk away.
Then make noise.
And lots of it.
First act very calm like nothing is happening.
If you freeze and stare, the bear sees you in
a "ready to pounce" posture and it is a threat to them.
It is our normal reaction to freeze up, and raise our hands.
If you think about it,
it looks to the bear like your ready to jump on it.
And obviously the Wildlife officials are not in the habit of
destroying wildlife, they have dedicated their lives to caring
for wild creatures. Imagine if they just let the cubs go and they
ended up killing someone later in life because they learned it from the sow.
Then what would happen?
WIldlife management is necessary and euthanizing wild animals is not
taken lightly. It is a last resort.
RC
This guy must be one of the writers who called the antifa/blm riots "mostly peaceful demonstrations".
As far as killing the cubs, that's unfortunate but there are plenty of reasons that might have been justified. I'm not qualified to judge. I do know conservation officers and wildlife biologists are much better at their jobs than politicians and journalists so my guess is it was the right call.
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