When Drought Brings Bears Closer to Home

In just five days this August, four people were injured in separate black bear encounters across Colorado. By August 21, the state had recorded six bear attacks in 2026, while Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) was responding to a dramatic increase in bear activity across the state.

These encounters are concerning for human safety, but they also tell a larger story about the challenges wild animals face when their natural resources become scarce.

Colorado’s bears are navigating a landscape affected by drought, low mountain snowpack, wildfires, and reduced natural food sources. Berries, fruits, nuts, plants, and grasses that bears naturally rely upon are becoming harder to find in some areas. As bears travel farther in search of the calories they need to survive, they are increasingly finding themselves in human communities.

For a bear, following the scent of an unsecured garbage can, bird feeder, or food inside a home may simply be an attempt to find its next meal. But when a wild bear learns that people and developed areas provide an easy source of food, the consequences can be devastating.

At Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, we believe protecting wild animals means respecting them as wild animals. That includes understanding how our actions can influence their behavior—and doing everything we can to prevent human-wildlife conflicts before they begin.

Four Bear Attacks in Five Days

The recent series of encounters began on August 17 in Eagle-Vail, when a man leaving an apartment building’s laundry room encountered a female black bear. The bear swiped at the man, scratching his arm, and he injured his foot while attempting to get away.

The following day, August 18, a bear entered a home in Steamboat Springs after breaking a sliding-glass door off its track. When the resident attempted to chase the bear from her home, the animal struck her in the face. She later sought treatment at a local hospital.

Then, at approximately 3 a.m. on August 19, a man sleeping in Aspen’s Rio Grande Park awoke to a bear approaching him. The bear sniffed the man before biting him on the head. He was able to escape his sleeping bag and call for help and was later transported to a hospital. Wildlife officials located a bear matching the description and euthanized the animal in accordance with CPW policy.

Two days later, on August 21, another encounter occurred along the North Fork Trail in Jefferson County. A man returning to his vehicle after fishing was knocked to the ground by a black bear and bitten on his legs. His friends eventually frightened the bear away, and the man was transported to a hospital. Wildlife officers later located and euthanized the bear.

That incident became Colorado’s sixth reported bear attack of 2026 and its fifth during August alone. Four had occurred within five days.

While any attack is serious, these incidents should not create the impression that black bears are naturally seeking conflict with people. Black bears generally avoid humans, and attacks remain rare. What is important to understand is what may be bringing bears and people into closer contact this year.

A Growing Challenge Across the West

Colorado is not alone. Across the West, prolonged drought and extreme temperatures are placing increasing pressure on wildlife as natural sources of food and water become more difficult to find.

In New Mexico, wildlife officials have reported an increase in human-bear conflicts throughout 2026. Low moisture and high temperatures have reduced many of the nuts, seeds, berries, fruits, and other natural foods bears depend upon. With fewer resources available, bears may travel farther in search of food and water, increasing the likelihood that their paths will cross with people. Tragically, on August 20, a man was killed during a bear attack near Crystal, New Mexico.

Utah is experiencing a similar increase in bear activity. As of August 25, wildlife officials had responded to 168 bear incidents in 2026—more than double the 83 reported during all of 2025. Severe drought, extreme heat, and earlier freezes have affected berries, acorns, and other vegetation, leaving bears with fewer natural food sources at a time when finding adequate nutrition is critical.

In Wyoming, wildlife officials have also reported increased black bear activity, noting that drought has reduced traditional food sources and caused some bears to travel farther in search of the calories they need.

For wildlife, these statistics have very real consequences. When landscapes cannot provide adequate food and water, animals must expand their search for resources. Sometimes, that search brings them into neighborhoods, campgrounds, parks, and other places where people live and recreate.

Drought may bring wildlife closer to our communities, but it is our responsibility to make sure we do not give them a reason to stay. Removing food and other attractants, maintaining a respectful distance, and never feeding wildlife can help prevent a difficult season from becoming a dangerous pattern—for people and for the animals simply trying to survive.

Protecting Bears During Drought Is Our Responsibility

We cannot control Colorado’s drought, but we can control what bears find when they enter our communities.

As drought reduces natural food and water sources, bears may be forced to travel farther than they normally would to meet their basic needs. That can bring them closer to neighborhoods, campgrounds, businesses, and other places where people live and recreate.

During times like these, it is our responsibility to do everything we can to ensure bears are not enticed to remain close to people.

A bear may initially enter a neighborhood because drought has made food or water difficult to find in its natural habitat. But if that bear discovers an unsecured garbage can, pet food, birdseed, fallen fruit, or another easy meal, it now has a reason to return.

That is where a temporary encounter can become a dangerous pattern.

Bears are intelligent and highly adaptable. When they repeatedly find food around people, they can begin associating homes and communities with reliable resources. Over time, they may become increasingly comfortable entering developed areas, putting both people and the bears themselves at greater risk.

Preventing that behavior is something each of us can help accomplish.

Residents and visitors in bear country should secure garbage and recycling, bring pet food and water indoors, remove bird feeders when bears are active, pick up fallen fruit, clean barbecue grills, secure food and coolers, and keep accessible vehicles, doors, windows, and garages closed and locked.

Most importantly, never intentionally feed or approach a wild bear.

Leaving food for a bear may feel compassionate, particularly when drought has made natural resources scarce. In reality, teaching a bear that people provide food can have devastating consequences.

Once a bear repeatedly approaches people, enters occupied spaces, or poses a threat to public safety, wildlife officials may have few options remaining. During Colorado’s recent series of attacks, bears involved in incidents in Aspen and Jefferson County were ultimately euthanized.

Those outcomes remind us that protecting bears begins long before an attack or serious conflict occurs.

Drought may be responsible for bringing wildlife closer to our communities, but we are responsible for making sure our actions do not encourage them to stay.

At Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, we believe respecting wildlife means allowing wild animals to remain wild. During challenging environmental conditions, that responsibility becomes even more important.

Give bears space. Remove attractants. Secure potential food sources. Encourage your neighbors to do the same.

Every household that removes an attractant helps reduce the chance that a bear will learn to associate people with food.

We may not be able to change the drought, but we can change what a bear experiences when its search for food and water brings it closer to us. By doing our part, we can help protect our communities—and give bears the best chance to remain safely in the wild.