By Shannon Lukens. (Picture and video courtesy Heidi Hannah.)
Steamboat Springs is receiving worldwide attention due to a video posted on the Steamboat Radio Facebook page. The video was shot by Steamboat Springs resident Heidi Hannah.
Video of Bear Climbing out of upstairs window
The video is of a bear in the Blue Sage neighborhood of Steamboat Springs, trying to climb out of a top floor window of a house last Wednesday afternoon. The bear pulled open a window on the lower level and ripped through a screen to get in. It grabbed some food in the kitchen and went upstairs. It tried four times to get out of the top floor window. Neighbors called police since no one was home. The video from neighbor Heidi Hannah shows the bear hanging against the side of the house from the window sill, unsure of whether to make the jump. It didn’t. It went back downstairs and out the window, the same way it came in.
In an update Sunday afternoon, Colorado Parks and Wildlife Area Wildlife Manager Kris Middledorf says this bear has been involved in at least three home break-ins. It has attempted to enter one home multiple times. It has been in multiple garages. A trap has been set at least three times for this bear. Middledorf adds, “If the bear is captured, it will be euthanized.”
Colorado Parks and Wildlife reports that the bear has been moving between the areas bound by Spring Creek and Fish Creek in Steamboat Springs.
The video on the Steamboat Radio Facebook page alone has reached hundreds of thousands of people, and publications worldwide.
Here are more stories about bears in Steamboat Springs.
- A STEAMBOAT MAN SHOT AND KILLED A BEAR THAT WAS IN HIS HOME EARLY SATURDAY MORNING
- CPW TRAPS SECOND BEAR IN STEAMBOAT NEIGHBORHOOD
- UPDATE ON BEAR ATTACK IN WHITEWOOD SUBDIVISION
- BE BEAR AWARE — CPW ASKS THAT YOU DO YOUR PART TO REDUCE CONFLICTS
- STEAMBOAT BEARS ARE BUSY THIS SUMMER
Here is the statement from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website on why a bear has to be euthanized.
“When a bear poses a risk to human health and safety or is known to have caused previous conflict activity, it is often euthanized in accordance with CPW directives. Euthanasia is often used to remove bears that have caused bodily harm to people, livestock, broken into homes or structures, exhibited repeated aggressive
behavior, or exhibited aggressive behavior one time and it is deemed necessary to euthanize by a wildlife officer.”
- Human-Bear Conflicts from Colorado Parks and Wildlife
- CPW explains strike policy for potentially dangerous bears on Fox 31
- (SUBSCRIBER ONLY) After euthanizing 63 bears so far this year, wildlife officials urge Coloradans to bear-proof homes in The Denver Post
- Why do wildlife officers euthanize bears after they attack? on Fox 31
- 66 bears euthanized, 51 relocated in Colorado throughout 2021, says report in The Denver Gazette
- Why do some bears get euthanized instead of relocated? TWRA explains from WJHL
- Bear euthanized in Colorado Springs after repeatedly entering Broadmoor-area home from KDVR
- Black bear euthanized by CPW after it repeatedly entered a Colorado Springs home from KOAA News