A prolonged drought has led to a record number of human-bear conflicts in Colorado — and it’s only getting worse. The state’s wildlife officers have called 2026 an “anomaly” for its massive spike of starving bears venturing into towns and breaking into homes in search of food.
Historically low snowpack means fewer acorns and berries for the state’s 20,000 black bears to feast on before going into hibernation for the winter. So they’re increasingly finding human sources of food instead.
Incidents and sightings have already doubled compared to 2025, and the increased aggressiveness has resulted in more attacks on humans, often with terrifying results. When bears start breaking into homes, that’s “a line we just can’t have bears crossing,” said John Livingston, an officer with Colorado Parks & Wildlife. Between these “conflict bears” and a rising number of bears hit by cars, wildlife officials have already euthanized 294 bears this year — a 250% increase compared to 2025.
“I had an officer deal with bear incidents for 20 straight days. Some of our guys are doing 18-20–hour days, as they’re constantly responding to bear incidents,” Livingston told GearJunkie. “We haven’t seen a widespread food failure this bad across the entire state before. We’ve experienced a non-stop summer of responding to bear incidents.”
A Hot Conundrum
Many residences in Colorado lack air conditioning. So it’s not uncommon for the state’s residents to cope with summer heat by opening up their windows and doors. But now many of them are facing an increasingly difficult conundrum: Keep their windows closed and deal with reduced airflow — or open them up and potentially invite in a hungry bear.
More Colorado residents have been reporting black bear break-ins, often after the animals smell food through an open window or door, and end up raiding the kitchen. That has led to increased conflicts — as well as the increased numbers of bears killed by wildlife officials.
“If you live in bear country, and you leave your door open, it’s more likely than usual they’re going to come check it out,” Livingston said. “If you ever have to be uncomfortable, then this year is it.”
But that’s far from the only type of human-bear conflict happening in Colorado right now. After an “extraordinary drought and fire year,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has been responding to a drastic increase in bear reports. Those include bears hit by vehicles as well as those suffering from poor health and body condition.
When possible, wildlife officials can relocate bears as well. Those have also spiked this year, with 98 bears relocated so far this year, compared to just 33 by this time in 2025. The hungry bears have also been seen targeting unusually large animals, like deer and elk. A black bear was even filmed earlier this month stalking and killing a large elk.
Hoping for Rain
Colorado’s leaders have tried several ways to mitigate the problem. CPW has increased efforts to educate the public about keeping their trash secure to avoid attracting bears. The state’s lawmakers even approved stiffer penalties for those found to be “negligently luring bears.”
But there’s often little enforcement of local ordinances aimed at preventing conflicts with bears, usually because of a lack of manpower or resources, CPW said. And those measures can’t change that the last several years have seen reduced snow and record wildfires, resulting in fewer natural food sources that bears need to bulk up for winter.
“We can’t expect this to not happen again, but fingers crossed for this super El Niño and more rain, because every animal needs it, including the bears,” Livingston said.
He hears many Colorado residents discussing the state’s increased population and development as a factor in the increased conflicts. However, he pointed out that state’s bear population has also increased massively. He encouraged the state’s residents to contextualize this year within a larger cycle.
“It’s a hard year for all wildlife, but it’s important to remember how resilient they are,” he said. “These animals are usually better at dealing with the natural cycles of the world than we humans are. It’s important to remember that all these are happening, but it hasn’t been at a detriment to the overall bear population.”
CPW asks that residents and visitors remain “BearWise” and respect how to live with bears as the animals continue to seek easy calories for the fall and winter months. For more info, visit bearwise.org.
