A man in Lake City, Colorado, had a scary encounter when a black bear along with her three cubs entered his home through a sliding glass door. Despite his attempts to make them leave, the bears ended up attacking him. The incident resulted in significant injuries to the man, but fortunately, he did not require hospitalization. The Colorado Parks & Wildlife agency confirmed that all four bears were euthanized following the attack that took place on Thursday night.
Colorado wildlife officer, Lucas Martin, expressed gratitude that the situation did not result in a fatality, noting how close the man came to a tragic outcome. According to the wildlife agency, the 74-year-old man tried to use a kitchen chair to scare off the adult female bear, but she pushed him into a wall and proceeded to claw at him, causing multiple injuries to his head, neck, arms, shoulder, abdomen, and calf before he managed to find safety in a bedroom.
After a sheriff’s deputy successfully drove the bears out of the property, medical responders attended to the man at his residence. The victim’s identity was kept confidential. Wildlife officials speculate that the bears might have become accustomed to human presence due to reports of bears searching for food inside homes in the area.
Discovering the bears near the man’s house, wildlife managers made the decision to euthanize them, a standard protocol to address bears displaying aggressive behavior driven by their association of humans with a food source. Lucas Martin highlighted the complexity of managing such situations, expressing concern that bear cubs learning these behaviors from their mother could perpetuate conflicts between bears and humans for generations.
This incident marks the first reported bear attack in Colorado this year, following six incidents reported in 2023. The occurrence serves as a stark reminder of the importance of coexisting with wildlife responsibly to prevent such dangerous encounters from transpiring in the future.
