Bear sightings and encounters are on the rise in Colorado and elsewhere in the United States as the animals travel out of the wild and into populated areas.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers have been busy recently with a series of run-ins with bears finding their way into cars, homes and apartment complexes. The increased sightings come as bears enter hyperphagia, the time in their annual biological cycle when they search for food to build up fat reserves for the winter, according to the CPW.
In Colorado, at least, drought has made it tougher for bears to find natural food. When they can't find that, they begin foraging in trash cans and looking for food that humans may leave within reach.
"This summer in particular, we ask people to be mindful that wildlife are having to work harder to find food and water," Casey Cooley, Colorado Parks and Wildlife habitat conservation supervisor, said in a news release. "The best thing we can do to support them is to keep them wild and not feed or disturb them."
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So far this year, Colorado Parks and Wildlife has received 6,129 reports of bear sightings and conflicts through Aug. 13 – nearly twice what the state agency received during the same period last year when it got 3,115 reports. The total has already surpassed the 5,299 reports recorded during all of 2025 and is on pace to be the highest since the agency began digitally tracking bear-human interactions in 2019.
Here are some recent bears that made the news in Colorado:
Aspen: A homeless man sleeping in Rio Grande Park said he awoke Aug. 19 to a bear biting him on the head, Colorado Parks and Wildlife said. The man escaped and was transported to a hospital by ambulance, where he was treated for head and facial injuries and later released. Wildlife officers found the bear in the park and humanely euthanized it, in accordance with agency policy, CPW said.
Steamboat Springs: The previous day, a bear entered a home in Steamboat Springs early in the morning Aug. 18, damaging the wooden frame of a sliding glass door and knocking it off its track. When the woman inside attempted to chase the animal outside, the bear struck her in the face, causing cuts, the CPW said. She drove herself to a local hospital, where she was treated and released. Wildlife officers collected hair samples from the broken door for DNA analysis and set a trap at the property while alerting neighbors to take preventive precautions.
Fort Collins: Also on Aug. 18, a young black bear was seen wandering the campus of Colorado State University as about 6,000 students were moving into dormitories Aug. 18. The bear caused no known conflicts but was safely tranquilized and relocated. The week before on Aug. 13, a parks and wildlife team tranquilized a young bear found in the backyard of a home across the street from Dunn Elementary School in Fort Collins, reported the Fort Collins Coloradoan, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Eagle-Vail: A female black bear swiped at a man leaving the laundry room of an apartment complex Aug. 17 near Eagle-Vail, which is about 100 miles west of Denver, officials said. The man tripped and injured his foot while trying to escape. He was released from a medical facility after being treated for injuries to his arm and foot. CPW officers placed a bear trap in the neighborhood, the agency said.
Colorado Springs: Officials are warning residents to lock their cars after finding a deceased black bear on Aug. 17 inside an unlocked car in Colorado Springs. It entered the car while searching for food and died after likely spending days inside the car, officials said. Colorado Parks and Wildlife said the bear, which weighed about 300 pounds, entered an unlocked vehicle while searching for food, became trapped inside and likely was exposed to the summer heat over several days before it was discovered. As it tried to escape, the bear heavily damaged the vehicle's interior.
Breckenridge: On Aug. 11, a bear broke into the Grand Timber Lodge, police said. "Luckily only some M&M's were taken. Breckenridge Officers were able to coax the bear back into the wilderness, and no animals or people were hurt!" the department said in a post on its Facebook page.
Other recent bear sightings include a report from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission that said an adult female black bear swatted at a resident in north Asheville after entering their home Aug. 18. The bear opened an unlocked door while her three cubs played on the front porch, reported the Asheville Citizen Times, which is part of the USA TODAY Network. The resident was treated and released from a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Last month, a black bear caused a commotion in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, on July 18 when it trotted around a parking lot, the Knoxville News Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. In a separate incident, a detective with the Dickson County Sheriff's Office filmed a black bear in another detective's yard on July 8 in middle Tennessee.