A bear stepped on and popped a beach ball outside the tent of a family camping in Colorado, leading to an unfortunate set of circumstances that prompted wildlife officials to search for the bear with the intention of euthanizing it.
A husband and wife and their 2-year-old daughter were sleeping at Monument Lake Resort, about 37 miles west of Trinidad, when around 2 a.m. Friday the woman heard a bear sniffing around the campground, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
When the bear popped the beach ball, the daughter woke up and began crying. When the woman went to comfort the child, she “likely” brushed the side of the tent.
“The bear reacted by swatting at the movement, tearing the tent fabric and scratching the victim on the head,” the CPW stated. “Then the bear wandered off.”
District Wildlife Manager Bob Holder responded to the scene Friday morning and interviewed the victim.
The woman sustained scratches to the head but was not seriously injured, and she didn’t seek medical attention.
Holder inspected the tent and found four tears in the fabric, along with mud and dirt at the base of the tent fabric.
“Because the bear made contact with a human, it is classified under CPW policy as an attack,” CPW stated. “If found, the bear will be euthanized.”
Also on FTW Outdoors: Bear follows hiker for nearly 4 minutes after sniffing her leg
Wildlife officials began searching for the bear with a team of dogs, and the local District Wildlife Manager set a trap in the campground in hopes of catching it. As of Saturday morning, it hadn’t been found.
“This is an unfortunate incident because the bear was not aggressively pursuing the victim,” said Mike Brown, CPW’s Area Wildlife Manager for the region.
“If the bear intended to harm the woman, the outcome would have been much worse. The evidence of the investigation illustrates that bears react to the environment they live in.”
Also on FTW Outdoors: Dead grizzly bear found on a Washington beach is a mystery
Because bears sometimes respond to movement in an occupied tent, Holder recommends that campers sleep away from the walls of the tent to avoid such tent movements.
The CPW recommends that people who recreate in wildlife areas be bear aware, and offers tips on how to do so.
Photo courtesy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
