Full Breakdown
Rocky Drought Pushes Hungry Bears Into Colorado, Utah and New Mexico Communities
9/8/2026, 1:24:13 PM
Rising Human-Bear Conflicts This Summer
A parched summer across the Rocky Mountain region has produced a surge of bear encounters in urban and suburban settings. In Gold Hill, Colorado, a black bear became trapped inside a Toyota SUV, repeatedly honking the horn before a family member freed it. Similar incidents have been reported in Denver, Colorado Springs, Steamboat Springs, and Moab, Utah, where bears have raided homes, cars and orchards. Wildlife officials note at least four documented attacks on people this year, including a June hiker assault in Golden and a mid-August scratch outside an apartment building near Vail.
Climate-Driven Food Shortage
Scientists link the uptick in bear activity to an unprecedented drought that has slashed the availability of nuts, berries and other natural foods. Snowpack across the Upper Colorado River Basin—spanning Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico—was the worst on record, and extensive wildfires have scorched large swaths of bear habitat.
Official Responses and Management Actions
Colorado Parks and Wildlife data identify unsecured trash as the primary attractant, and agencies in Utah and New Mexico have authorized lethal removals when necessary.
Data & Statistics
- Colorado officials report twice as many bear sightings and conflicts this year compared with the average.
- Utah’s Division of Wildlife Resources records over three dozen bears killed this year, exceeding the total for the previous three years combined.
- New Mexico authorities have killed 187 bears, the highest count since 2011.
- At least four human-bear attacks have been documented in Colorado this summer.
Verbatim Quotes
- “When they get that far east, there’s just zero natural food sources that they would be looking for, like oaks or chokecherries,” — Travis Sauder
- “Human-animal conflicts in the context of climate change haven’t really been fully researched yet. And we’re still starting to kind of tease out what this means for us and what this means for all the species that we share the ecosystem with,” — Samantha Miller
- “We’ve got to rescue a lot of bear cubs out of trees, including standing on some pretty shaky ladders to pull a bear cub that’s sleeping in a tree,” — Sauder. Andy Kerrigan
- “But it had found my lunch in the seat. And it was like, ‘I’m not going anywhere,’” — Sauder. Andy Kerrigan
- “It was just sitting there waiting for someone to help him, basically,” — Patrick Sullivan
