Joint rescue effort saves baby bear in Aspen skate park

If anyone visited Aspen’s Rio Grande skate park early Tuesday morning, they weren’t the only one. 

A mama bear and two bear cubs were there, pacing around a feature that a third bear cub had fallen into. According to Lara Xaiz, wildlife coordinator for Aspen, the parks department mobilized in partnership with the police department for a rescue of the baby bear. Lighting and safety was set up before a ladder was extended into the feature. 

“The little one raced out of the skate park and reunited with mom and siblings,” Xaiz said, “leaving four poops behind in the park feature!”

This is just one example of bear presence within city limits as activity ramps up before the winter. In search of food, bears are entering human spaces, including homes, businesses, and hotels, she confirmed.

Bear entry into homes, usually ones that have been left unlocked, spiked this September — while May saw one intrusion, June saw two, July saw four, August saw five, and September saw 15.

“Many people don’t call in when a bear enters their home, so the number is likely much higher,” sje added. 

Xaiz suggested this is due to the fact that many people are afraid that calling the police or Colorado Parks and Wildlife when a bear enters a home will get the bear killed.

“That is not the case,” she said. “CPW will offer a trap in certain situations, but the decision is always up to the property owner or renter to decide what steps to take next.”

Aspen is also offering electric mats to loan out — a safe and effective way to deter bears from entering a building or house and “give peace of mind” to those who want to sleep with the window open.

“Bears don’t always enter traps, so they aren’t always the solution, but electricity works every time,” Xaiz said.

She confirmed a local hotel recently started using mats to deter bears who were pulling open key card access doors that needed to stay unlocked for clients. 

Leading up to Halloween, homeowners should also bring jack-o-lanterns indoors at night, so the smell doesn’t entice bears to approach homes and walk onto front steps for food.

Xaiz is currently organizing a regional human/bear conflict workshop for the second year, slated for Dec. 3. 

“We all share the same bears and the same workforce,” she said, “so we decided to get together and share ideas, tools, and resources on how to reduce human/bear conflict within our communities.”

Her regional workshop comes after she and Roaring Fork Valley Bear Coalition Founder Daniela Kohl sponsored and spoke at an international human-bear coexistence workshop in Kalispell, Montana, earlier this month, discussing how to change the narrative around human-bear conflicts to underscore human responsibility.

Read more about that at aspentimes.com/news/roaring-fork-valley-to-sponsor-represent-at-international-bear-coexistence-workshop.