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Attacks Not Common From Black Bears In Colorado

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Aug 12, 2009 11:26 am US/Mountain

Attacks Not Common From Black Bears In Colorado

Written by Alan Gionet

Reporting
Alan Gionet
ASPEN, Colo. (CBS4) ― Back in the days of Lewis and Clark, grizzly bears, also known as brown bears, ruled the West. There were so many close calls during the journey of the Corps of Discovery, they slept with their guns by their sides for fear of grizzly attacks. In one encounter, a massive grizzly was shot numerous times, even through the lungs, but still kept chasing some of Lewis and Clark's men. They had to drop their guns and jump off a nearly 20-foot embankment into a river. The enraged bear jumped in after them and was stopped only with a bullet through the brain fired by one of the remaining men on shore.

There are no more grizzlies in Colorado -- only black bears -- smaller than grizzlies, but still powerful. Investigators believe it was black bears that killed 74-year-old Donna Munson outside her home in Ouray County last week. The Division of Wildlife said they had been after Munson for feeding bears "for a decade."

Experts talk about bears becoming habituated. There are different theories on whether they pass on that knowledge from sow to cub or otherwise.

"If they happen to go along and a nice juicy trash can is there, they might try it anyway, even if it's a great food year," said Sharon Baruch-Mordo.

Baruch-Mordo is a Ph.D. candidate in ecology at Colorado State University where she is four years into a five-year study in cooperation with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, CSU and the National Wildlife Research Center branch of the USDA. She has found some surprising results.

"I think one of the facts that we didn't realize is how far they move. I had bears from Aspen that moved towards Crested Butte," said Baruch-Mordo.

Some went 50 miles over steep mountain ranges and back again.

It's well known that bears have an outstanding ability to smell. Perhaps the best of any land animal. There are reports of black bears following a straight line to food for miles. Leave trash, a barbeque grill or food out and they can find it. What bears do that leads to interaction with humans is a complicated mix of human factors, bear factors and natural food production, according to Baruch-Mordo.

In a low natural food year, say drought the previous year when vegetation creates the foundation for the following year's buds and fruit, bears are likely to go farther in search of a meal. They are not social animals but will tolerate each other near food as seen among black and brown bears near salmon runs. There are reports of more than a dozen bears being spotted on Munson's property at a time.

"Not only does it impact them but it impacts all their neighbors and the surrounding people," the DOW's Tyler Baskfield said Monday of Munson's feeding of the bears.

So it's wise to be wary in the woods. Follow advice from experts about food and garbage. There's always the possibility that while camping, it's not far from where someone else has been feeding bears - intentionally or not.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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