SAN LUIS VALLEY - One-third of all bear reports in Colorado last year have been traced back to having trash involved as an attractant.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife received 4,943 bear reports in 2020 and 1,661 (33.6 percent) had trash documented. Trash is not the only problem leading to human-bear conflicts. Bird feeders (411 reports), unsecured chicken coops (254) and livestock (391), among others, are all pieces of the puzzle wildlife officials document when tracing conflicts.

Overall, the 4,943 reports filed on bears was down slightly from the 5,369 in 2019. Reports were up in the southeast (up 23.6 percent) and northeast (up 6.3 percent) regions of the state, but down in the northwest (23.5 percent) and southwest (18.6 percent).

“Unfortunately I would classify 2020 as a fairly ‘normal’ year for bear activity,” said Area 8 Wildlife Manager Matt Yamashita. “‘Unfortunate’ is in reference to the still substantial number of conflict bear calls across the state. Compared to 2019 statistics it appears that human-bear conflict numbers have decreased and the situation is improving. However, wildlife managers are hesitant to draw conclusions from a comparison between two years.

“As with many aspects of wildlife management, managers look to identify trends in data over several years to ensure that change is persistent and meaningful.”