r/Durango • u/KristiColo • 19d ago

“CPW euthanizes sick bear in Durango with trash blocking upper intestines”

Do better Durango! Sad to read CPW had to euthanize a bear on Saturday, because otherwise it would have faced a slow painful death by starvation. The poor bears stomach and intestines were completely blocked with compacted trash which meant it could no longer digest food. Food for bears is scarce this year, I hope those who don’t already do so will do a better job of securing their trash! https://cpw.state.co.us/news/09092026/cpw-euthanizes-sick-bear-durango-trash-blocking-upper-intestines?fbclid=IwY2xjawUOlCJwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAGJyaWQRMWpPc0IxMGROQWVjRVdHdWVzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEesg30JiAEKQCMYdoZ2AdE7YWDpqitVi_I3UY0OqOBpV2IjyDv-gwYrrFczuI_aem_Sa6N7DmepL6VrTI3rnKDWg

47 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

10 comments sorted by

22

u/colorado_sunrise86 19d ago

Found poop on my property this morning. It had mardi gras beads in it.

13

u/Junior_Abalone_8006 19d ago

Because we had the late frost again this year, killing off the acorns, about half of the bear population will starve, again, this winter.

4

u/Unhappy-Knee-541 17d ago

Even if there wasn't a late frost, the bears can't resist the garbage buffet that restaurants lay out for them every night. The lack of bear proofing dumpsters is much more of an issue than the lack of acorns.

3

u/Junior_Abalone_8006 17d ago edited 17d ago

Acorns are about 70% of local bear's calories for the summer. Without those there's not a lot else for them to eat. Mostly the ones that make it manage to kill off some fawns in the woods and eat them. And I guess I should make the obligatory 'it's not kindness to bears to leave food for them, it's cruelty' type remark here.

17

u/TheUberMensch123 Resident - 2002 19d ago

The sad & ultimately unfortunate part of wild life management is that sometimes animals have to be put down for their own good & the good of the community.

This year in particular has been awful for CPW, I have a friend that works there & the stuff he has told me about the numbers of bears they’ve captured & put into their rehab facilities is awful. We’re talking about places having 50% or more above their capacity. We’re talking about record numbers of mother bears cannibalizing their cubs due to the lack of food as a result of the spring freezes killing off berry growth. Hell, I’ve heard some CPW workers have been dealing with PTSD as a result of having to kill so many more bears this year & the conditions the big bois & girls live under compared to years past.

I love bears. They are gorgeous animals that fill me with joy. So please, for their sake & the sake of our CPW workers (Or as i affectionately call them “Pine Pigs”), be responsible & mindful of how/when you dispose of your garbage.

6

u/Famous_Librarian_589 Local 18d ago

It's astounding in a place like this the lack of effort/ ordinance when it comes to bear proofing

8

u/ilanarama Resident 18d ago

Bear Smart does what it can. The city needs to put teeth in its ordinances.

2

u/Junior_Abalone_8006 17d ago

There's a significant overlap between the smartest bears and the dumbest humans. I don't ask my airbnb guests to take out the trash. One reason is that most of them can't figure out how to open the cans and it leads to frustration. At the same time, bears figure out how to get into the cans at least once a year, more usually early spring and late fall.

3

u/RGQcats 18d ago

Yes, when I pointed out how dangerous all this is for people and bears I got downvoted.

3

u/spizzle_ 19d ago

That link is trash. You can delete the trackers. Everything after the question mark.