Brief by Allen Best
Wildlife – October 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
In 1992, Colorado voters banned the hunting of bears during spring, primarily because sows are giving birth to cubs in that season. Since then, however, interactions with people have been rising, with bears breaking into homes in the Aspen area almost daily last summer. Sounds like an easy case of cause and effect, right?
Nonsense, wildlife biologists tell the Aspen Times. In fact, hunters are killing more bears now that there’s just a fall bear hunt.
In 1992, hunters across Colorado killed only 479 black bears during the spring and fall hunting seasons. Whereas from 1995 through 2004, the number of bears killed in the fall hunt was higher than it was in the years prior to the elimination of the spring hunt, peaking at 856 bears in 2002 – the peak drought year.
Wildlife officers contend that increased development of prime bear habitat is the major cause of increased human/bear conflicts. With fewer food sources, bears go for easy pickings in town and around homes in rural areas, particularly in years when natural factors like a late frost or drought diminish crops of acorns and berries.
