A 74-year-old man was able to fight off a mother black bear and her three cubs after they broke into his home in Lake City, Colorado, through a partially cracked sliding glass door, authorities said.
The man, whose name was not released, was “seriously injured” in the attack but refused hospital treatment, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported. press release.
The four bears were euthanized after the incident. Wildlife authorities say this “tragic” finding underscores the need to prevent bear-human interactions as much as possible, not only for the safety of humans but for the safety of bears as well.
“It’s a horrific set of circumstances,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife District Director Brandon Diamond said.
“These bears were clearly very habituated and were willing to enter an occupied home where the residents were sitting just feet away. When a bear reaches this level of human habituation, it is clear that a lot of interaction with people has already occurred, and unless communities work If you work with us collaboratively and communicate issues with us, we will not have the opportunity to intervene.
The attack took place on October 3 at around 8:30 pm when the residents of the house were shocked when they heard a loud crash, followed by the mother bear and her three cubs entering through the sliding glass door.
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The 74-year-old grabbed a chair from the kitchen and tried to push the mother bear out the door, prompting the bear to attack him. The man was thrown to the ground and Mama Bear stood over him and stroked his head.
Authorities said the man suffered injuries to his head, neck, arms, lower abdomen, shoulder and leg due to its claws.
“It’s fortunate that we didn’t see a fatality, because it was close,” Wildlife Officer Lucas Martin said.
The residents of the house managed to escape from the bears by locking themselves in the bedroom. When law enforcement and medical personnel arrived, the three bear cubs were still inside the home.
A deputy with the Hinsdale County Sheriff’s Office was able to scare the cubs out of the home, and medical staff treated the 74-year-old man at the scene.
When wildlife officials arrived at the home, they quickly discovered the mother bear and her three cubs in a nearby tree. The four black bears were euthanized and brought to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife laboratory in Fort Collins to undergo necropsies and testing for any diseases.
Authorities say the incident marks the first bear attack reported in Colorado this year, compared to six reports last year.
Wildlife officials say it’s not uncommon for bears to be found in and around Lake City, and officers are aware of social media posts indicating bears entering unoccupied homes and garages in the area. Some of these reports were of mother bears, known as boars, with their cubs.
“When we have many pigs with many cubs in a city and conflict occurs based on the constant availability of human food sources, it creates a very complex situation to mitigate,” Martin said. “Unfortunately, bear cubs taught by their mothers these behaviors may lead to generations of conflict between bears and people.”
Officials are urging residents to report all bear incidents so wildlife officers can intervene to mitigate risks before an attack occurs.
“A lot of times, people want to get on social media and post about it, but they never call the authorities. We don’t want calls just when something escalates to that level. We want to be able to do some management before For things to reach this level.”
Colorado Parks and Wildlife listed some tips for protecting a home from bears, including keeping trash well secured, cleaning trash cans regularly to rid them of food odors, not turning off bird feeders in the summer months, and yelling at bears to scare them away. If you notice them in a residential area.
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