A black bear was spotted taking a “stroll” in downtown Colorado Springs Sunday.

One person on Twitter reported spotting a bear near the Police Operations Center at South Nevada Avenue and Rio Grande Street.”Literally a bear running lose in downtown Colorado Springs…,” wrote user AJ on Twitter around noon. 

A few blocks west, Twitter user Kari reported spotting what was presumably the same bear at the 500 block of Tejon Street after leaving the Denver Biscuit Company, and shared a photo.

“Black bear out for a Sunday stroll on Tejon St. in C-Springs this morning!” the tweet said. 

Colorado Parks and Wildlife retweeted Kari’s photo on Monday, writing. “You never know where you might see a bear.”

It’s not uncommon for bears to mosey on downtown, said Bill Vogrin, agency spokesman for the southeast region.

Two years ago, a black bear was spotted climbing a tree near a busy thoroughfare near downtown. 

Vogrin said bears have been removed from both the Colorado College campus and Acacia Park in the past. They’ve been found further east too. One wandered to a neighborhood near The Citadel mall. Another bear was removed from the plains east of Colorado Springs, where it was reportedly chased around a pasture by horses. 

“They’re hungry all the time. They’re just following their stomachs and their noses,” Vogrin says, adding that bears will follow the waterways, including Monument and Fountain creeks. 

And whether it’s unsecured garbage, dog food left outside, candy inside a car, or bird feeders that are low enough for them to reach, they’re probably going to find a snack.

Bears are smart and will remember a meal for years; some are conditioned to come running at the sound of a garage door opening, Vogrin said. So people should avoid feeding them, either intentionally or inadvertently, because ultimately feeding a bear could lead to it being euthanized. 

“Nuisance” bears that get too comfortable around people get tagged and relocated— that’s the first and only strike they get. Often, Parks and Wildlife officers will try to re-instill a fear of humans before tagging the bears through hazing, which involves scaring the bruins with pyrotechnics, rattle cans, rubber bullets and sometimes even dogs.  

“They are around, and we want to live with them and keep them wild and alive, and if they’re eating garbage, neither will happen for very long,” Vogrin said.  

Learn more about being “Bear Aware” here.

iStock

Bkamprath