Denver’s Platt Park residents on Sunday morning came upon an unusual discovery: A male bear hanging out in a tree.
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Wildlife authorities say they found the 100-pound mammal, roughly 18 months old, in a tree near East Louisiana Avenue and South Pennsylvania Street.
Kara Van Hoose, a Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson, said the agency is unsure how the bear got into Denver, since they hadn’t taken any reports of bear activity in the area.
Wildlife officials tranquilized the bear, catching him in a tarp, she said.
Now he’s “on his way back to where bears should be — not Denver,” Van Hoose said.
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Coloradans have experienced almost double the number of bear encounters this year, and the state is on pace to have the highest number of bear reports since CPW implemented its statewide digital reporting system in 2019.
Bears are coming closer to human-occupied areas searching for food this year due to widespread drought, which has affected their normal food-gathering activities.
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