ROCKY MOUNTAINS — Wildlife officials in the Rocky Mountain region are reporting increased conflicts between black bears and people this summer. Millions of people live in or near bear habitat across the Rocky Mountains.

Colorado officials report twice as many bear sightings and conflicts with humans this year compared with the average. Wildlife managers in New Mexico and Utah report record numbers of bears raiding homes, cars, and campgrounds.

A black bear opened the door of a Toyota SUV and became trapped inside the vehicle in Gold Hill, Colorado, northwest of Denver. Patrick Sullivan heard a car horn honking continuously at 3 a.m. while feeding his infant son. The trapped bear bumped the horn while damaging the interior of the Toyota SUV.

"It’s totaled. It’s unfit to drive," Sullivan said. Sullivan's brother-in-law freed the bear by pulling a rope tied to the vehicle's door handle.

"It was just sitting there waiting for someone to help him, basically," he said. "So I’m glad we could have done that for him."

In another incident, a black bear trapped in a car in Colorado Springs died from heat exposure. A black bear in central Denver was tranquilized and relocated after climbing a tree. A bear at Colorado State University in Fort Collins was caught and released elsewhere during fall semester move-in.

Authorities in Utah moved four bears from Moab where they had been feeding in orchards. A bear cub was found inside a truck through a window in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The cub was chased away with a piece of wood trim.

State wildlife officer Travis Sauder said bears are not necessarily behaving differently but are increasing activity in areas where they look for food. "Bears aren’t necessarily behaving any differently but they are definitely increasing their activity in the places that they’re looking for food," Sauder said. Black bears in Colorado have been spotted on the plains more than an hour's drive east of Colorado Springs this year.

"When they get that far east, there’s just zero natural food sources that they would be looking for, like oaks or chokecherries," he said. Trash in unsecured bins is the biggest attractant behind the increase in bear activity, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife data. Sauder noted that officials rescue bear cubs from trees using ladders. "We’ve got to rescue a lot of bear cubs out of trees, including standing on some pretty shaky ladders to pull a bear cub that’s sleeping in a tree," he said.

In June, a black bear attacked and scratched a hiker in Golden, Colorado. A bear scratched a man outside an apartment building near Vail, Colorado, on August 17. A bear tackled and bit a fisherman in the mountains southwest of Denver five days after the August 17 incident. The young bear involved in the attack on the fisherman was tracked down and killed.

Over three dozen bears have been killed in Utah this year. The number of bears killed in Utah this year is more than the total from the past three years combined, according to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. The number of bears killed by wildlife officials and authorized property owners in New Mexico is 187 this year. The 187 bears killed in New Mexico this year is the highest number since 2011.

Widespread drought in the Rocky Mountains has reduced supplies of nuts, berries, and plants that bears eat. The snowpack in the Upper Colorado River Basin, spanning Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, was the worst on record this year. Scientists state that human-caused global warming made the record low snowpack far more likely. Record wildfires have scorched vast areas of bear habitat in the region.

Senior carnivore campaigner Samantha Miller said research into these conflicts is ongoing. "Human-animal conflicts in the context of climate change haven’t really been fully researched yet," Miller said. "And we’re still starting to kind of tease out what this means for us and what this means for all the species that we share the ecosystem with."

Why It Matters

The surge in bear-human interactions reflects broader environmental shifts affecting the Rocky Mountain region. Widespread drought and record-low snowpack have diminished natural food sources, driving bears into populated areas. Scientists link these conditions to human-caused global warming, while record wildfires have further reduced available habitat.

With millions of residents living in or near bear habitat, the frequency of encounters has risen sharply. Wildlife officials emphasize that unsecured trash remains a primary attractant, leading to lethal outcomes for bears that become habituated to human food sources. The data from Utah and New Mexico illustrate the scale of the response required as agencies manage record numbers of incidents.

Timeline

As of Aug. 25, 2026, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and partnering law enforcement agencies had responded 168 times to bear-related issues across the state. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources responded 168 times to bear issues as of Aug. 25, 2026, compared to 83 times in 2025.

What's New

Later reporting indicates that the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources responded 168 times to bear issues across the state as of Aug. 25, 2026, compared to 83 times in 2025. As of Aug.

25, 2026, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and partnering law enforcement agencies had responded 168 times to bear-related issues across the state. Additional context notes that Utah Division is rail line in Utah and Colorado in the United States.