Colorado Bear Euthanized After Ingesting Trash Bags

Wildlife officials euthanized a black bear in Durango, Colorado, on September 9. The animal was found moaning in pain in a residential yard, acting lethargic and unable to move.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Officer John Livingston said the team noticed the bear's severely bloated stomach. After tranquilizing it, they decided to euthanize and performed a field necropsy. "Immediately upon getting into the stomach, we just started pulling out cleaning wipes and full trash bags that still had the whole drawstring," Livingston told Backpacker. "It was pretty rough stuff."

Record Bear Conflicts Statewide

This incident occurred during a peak in human-bear conflicts across Colorado. CPW has logged over 8,000 bear reports so far this year, the highest number ever recorded. The agency has euthanized more than 294 bears in 2025, a sharp increase from the 98 euthanized in all of the previous year.

Livingston, who is the CPW public information officer for southwest Colorado, expects conflicts to continue rising this fall. He cites two main factors: severe food scarcity and bears becoming habituated to human food sources. A record-low snowpack caused drought, and a late spring freeze in May devastated natural food supplies in the southwest.

The Habituation Problem

Driven by hunger, bears descended into towns early in the season. Now, they are accustomed to finding food there. Livingston explains that as long as bears access trash, bird seed, or pet food, they lack the incentive to return to natural foraging grounds. This habituation creates dangerous situations.

Bears may break into homes or cars, or ingest indigestible materials like plastic. Their biological rhythms can also be disrupted. "Bears that get human-provided foods will continue to stay up looking to eat as much as they can for as long as they can," Livingston said. He noted that a lack of food, not cold weather, triggers hibernation, and in some places, a few bears have stopped denning entirely because they access food year-round.

CPW's Call for Caution

With winter approaching, CPW is urging Colorado residents to exercise greater caution. Many areas require bear-resistant trash containers, but Livingston emphasizes these are ineffective if not cleaned regularly or if left broken. He advises securing containers every night.

Failing to secure trash can result in fines. The penalties are structured as follows:

Livingston also warns against leaving windows, doors, or cars unlocked at night. "It may not be a person you have to worry about coming into your house or trying to get into your car at night," he said. "It might be a bear."

Hazing Recommended

Residents should not be afraid to haze bears that wander near homes. Recommended methods include yelling, sounding a car alarm, banging pots and pans, or using an airhorn. Livingston suggests that if someone is recording a bear on their phone, they should do so while yelling to help send the right message.

CPW officers have been responding to bear incidents since June, often working 18- to 20-hour days without weekends. Bear relocation incidents are 3.5 times the five-year average, and euthanizations are 2.7 times higher. Livingston was preparing for another bear call even during his interview with Backpacker.