A 320-pound bear was shot and killed by a Colorado Division of Wildlife officer early today after it entered a Bailey home and bit the homeowner.
The DOW said the Bailey family awoke shortly after midnight to sounds of the bear in their kitchen.
When the 51-year-old Bailey man approached the animal in the home’s basement and attempted to get the bear to leave, the bear bit the man, said the DOW.
Both the DOW and Park County deputy sheriffs responded to the home and located the bear outside the residence.
There it was killed by a DOW officer, said DOW spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill.
“The instructions we give our wildlife officers is clear – public safety is our first priority,” said Reid DeWalt, area wildlife manager. “Bears that enter homes are a threat to public safety. When we’re dealing with aggressive or habituated wildlife, people come first.”
The Bailey man was taken to Swedish Medical Center in Englewood where he was treated and released.
The DOW said that the bear was apparently looking for a food source. In the Bailey case, the door to a garage containing trash and a refrigerator was open, said the DOW.
In addition, the door from the garage to the home apparently was not latching properly, said investigators.
The DOW recommends that if a wild animal enters a home, people in the home should leave and call for help. Animals that feel cornered or threatened are a threat to humans and pets.
Churchill said that aggressive bears are rare, but encounters such as the one in Bailey have increased as Colorado becomes more populous.
“The bear population has not increased, but the number of people living, working and recreating in bear country has,” she said.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
