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Springs camper attacked by bear while sleeping
Learn about living, hiking and camping in bear country at the Parks and Wildlife website.
A 50-year-old Colorado Springs man was treated for non-life threatening injuries when a bear attacked while he was sleeping in his tent last week near Lake City.
“He did all he could do,” Mike Porras, spokesman with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. “He fought the bear off and he got help.”
A bear believed to be the attacker was killed by a wildlife officer, Porras said.
The man, whose name was not released, was camping in a legal but non-designated area near Lake San Cristobal. He was awakened at about 4 a.m. Wednesday by something pushing on his tent. He pushed back and the bear reacted, Porras said.
“It was likely that this bear had begun to associate tents and camping with food, an easy meal for the bear,” he said.
Other campers reported seeing a black bear at a nearby campsite. Wildlife officers euthanized that bear Thursday morning.
The bear was taken to a laboratory in Fort Collins. A necropsy will be conducted and DNA evidence will be gathered to see if the bear is linked to the attack.
Bears can smell a stick of gum from five miles away, wildlife officers remind campers.
A San Diego man was fatally attacked by a grizzly in Denali National Park last week. He was taking photos of the bear when he apparently disturbed it and the bear attacked.
