Aspen Community Meeting

On Saturday, Aug 21, 2022, Colorado Parks and Wildlife received a call from a resident in Aspen who explained that he and his family were trapped inside their own home after a mother bear and at least two cubs broke in through a ground-level window that was left open. Although the sow and cubs left the home, CPW set a trap and captured the sow the following day. The sow and all four cubs were euthanized. None of the cubs were spared in the incident because Colorado Parks and Wildlife did not have any details or differing characteristics between the cubs that were in the home. This tragic incident drew public outcry that brought the Colorado Bear Coalition to the area to help the community understand the facts directly from CPW and to begin a dialogue and action plan to create a platform for the community to work with city and state officials on ways to avoid a similar event in the future. 

The Colorado Bear Coalition invited the local community, Area 8 CPW manager Matt Yamashita, local district wildlife managers, representatives from Snowmass and Aspen Police, and the Pitkin County Sheriff. The information provided at the meeting was the first step in creating a foundation for the community to establish a plan to reducing human-bear conflict in Aspen and the surrounding area.

News articles related to the killing of the sow and her 4 cubs:

Aspen Times, 8/23/22; “Momma bear, four cubs put down after breaking into Five Trees home”

Aspen Times, 9/27/22; Colorado Bear Coalition hosts ‘town hall’ to explain bear killings”