Brief by Allen Best
Wildlife – October 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Once a black bear goes bad, can it ever embrace the straight and narrow again? That’s the fundamental question being asked in a new study in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley, which one wildlife official describes as “bear central” in Colorado during recent years.
Last year, 49 bears were killed in the region encompassed by the Eagle and Roaring Fork Valleys.
The plan is to capture 15 bears and fit them with collars so that researchers can track them with global positioning technology every 15 minutes. Then they can learn whether bears are diving into dumpsters, trying to break into houses, or doing stuff in the woods.
The study aims to find out whether Aspen’s problem with bears is linked to bear-foraging at the local landfill, 10 miles away. And the study also will show if bears that tap human sources ever rummage in their natural environment again. Many researchers think not.
Colorado wildlife authorities currently have a two-strike policy. A bear caught at a house is tagged and released away from settled areas. If it is caught again, it is killed.
