A recent article in Fortune Magazine “Climate change pushes thirsty bears into Coloradans’ cars — one honked a horn for hours from 3am onward,” from The Associated Press (AP), blames climate change for bears breaking into cars and homes in Colorado. This is false. Bears have gone in search of food and water amid a drought in Colorado, that much is true, but it’s not because of long term climate change.
“Millions of people live in or near bear habitat across the Rockies, where widespread drought has reduced supplies of nuts, berries and plants that bears eat,” the article explains this is “prompting the animals to roam far and wide for food.”
This is nothing unusual, except perhaps in the amount of bears that had dangerous contact with humans this year. The article blames climate change for the increase in bear encounters, but one of the most glaring issues with this AP piece is that it does not even once address the fact that there are significantly more bears than ever.
It is difficult to get exact counts of black bears, in large part because they live in dense wooded areas, but generally the bear population in Colorado is believed to have increased in recent decades. The same is even more true for parts of the country where bears were nearly eliminated, like in Pennsylvania, which has more than four times as many bears today as it did in the 1970s.
In addition to there being more bears, there are also more people living in what were once remote areas, so bear encounters will naturally increase. Food availability draws bears even when their natural sources are not suppressed. As land is developed, more contact with the wild animals that used to live and forage there should be expected.
The availability of human food sources from garbage bins probably disturbs the natural pattern of population booms and busts. When drought occurs that suppresses berry and acorn production in late summer, bears would normally have a harder time putting on weight for winter, and many would die off. Now, they have other sources of food, which sustains a larger population and exacerbates the issue of human-bear contact.
On the issue of climate change and drought, the article says that the Upper Colorado River Basin had a snowpack this year that was “the worst on record,” and that “[s]cientists say human-caused global warming made that far more likely.”
“Made that far more likely” is a couching statement, because the data show that despite more than 100 years of warming, Colorado has not seen an increase in drought.
It is true that snowpack hit a record low this year, which spelled trouble for water supplies since snow melt feeds the Colorado River and its tributaries. And long term data show that in general snow water equivalent in Colorado was higher in the 1970s than it is today, but it has been fairly stable since the late 90s and early 2000s.
In terms of precipitation-related drought, data show that there is no trend in worsening drought conditions, and in fact there were much more lengthy and severe droughts in pre-industrial Colorado.
The article adds that “vast areas of bear habitat” have been “scorched by record wildfires,” but it’s not clear that they mean Colorado. Colorado’s wildfires are not becoming more frequent or extreme, despite big fires in 2020 and 2018, which were outliers from a generally flat trend according to the available data from the National Interagency Fire Coordination Center.
Interestingly, the vast majority of the article was not about climate change, despite it getting the leading spot in the article headline. The majority of the article was discussing the bear-human interactions themselves, which certainly make for interesting news, but are not indicative of human-caused climate change.
The Associated Press and, by extension, Fortune Magazine by republishing their piece, seem more interested in promoting the catastrophe narrative of climate change in any way they can, regardless of nuances. The climate comments in the article were completely unnecessary to tell the story of increased human-bear encounters, and only serve to advance the outlets’ political climate slant.
“Climate change pushes thirsty bears into Coloradans’ cars — one honked a horn for hours from 3am onward,”
It could well be:
Climate change pushes bears into anti-social behaviour – one honked a horn for hours from 3am onward”. However, one bear said he was very sorry, but there were mitigating factors…
Maybe that bear just loved the sound of the honking. 🙂
And annoying people.
Any bears in the UK?
Not since Neolithic times.
No problem! We can ship you some, your immigration standards are so low already a few hundred bears should be fine.
Short summary. More bears plus less food this summer because of weather means more bear problems as bears seek to bulk up before hibernating for the winter.
My daughter and her family live on several acres adjacent to a mountainous forest in Evergreen Colorado. They have been having bear problems to the extent that outdoor grilling is unwise.
I grill 5-7 times a week year ’round. If I were living there, 2 choices: move, or put an enclosure made of railroad ties around the grill and the path to the house.
Out here in the east, they make bear traps out of railroad ties. What do they bait them with? Donuts.
Deep fryer grease is free and far more effective.
Again, it ain’t the weather or climate. Bears have no fear of humans and humans are creating feeder zones that draw them in. Plenty of things for them to eat in wild. Free buffet beats digging grubs and catching fish every time.
More to the point, it is the movement of humans into the bear environment — building homes in the forests — known s “WUI (Wildland-Urban Interface): Pronounced “WOO-EE,””.
We move into the bears home….they return the favor.
I live just on the very edge of the WUI in my area … and had bears break into our home this spring. My wife surprised one on our porch, luckily, from behind a solid wall. The bear had ripped off a high screen and climbed up and over the casement window. Local bear cntrol man said “Hungry bear.”
You should buy a big dog like a German Shepard. I seen videos on X of them chasing the bears away from back yards.
Dog poop in the garbage bins is enough to encourage bears to skip our house in favor of our dogless neighbors.
Just yesterday, I had an encounter with a woolly bear caterpillar. It was frightening. 🙂 After it was safely transferred to another location, I had to find a shady spot and recover with a glass of Sauvignon blanc. The last time I saw a black bear was about 7 years ago. It transited the back yard and moved on to the neighbor’s property.
Seriously, in the Lake Tahoe Basin, reports of bear encounters are legion and have been since shortly after the Comstock Lode was discovered in 1858. The forests were heavily harvest for mining operations and the growing Virginia City. Friends in South Lake Tahoe keep me informed.
Was the wooly bear caterpillar large and wooly? If it was, winter will be very cold and snowy.
There’s a lot more bears because there’s a lot less hunting. As a forester for 50 years- when I started, during bear season here in Wokeachusetts- and in all hunting seasons- I’d see guys parked everywhere on back roads- especially on state owned land but also private land. I’d hear gunshots from all directions. I now see hardly anyone hunting. Yet, all those years, I only saw a bear in the woods twice- that is, deep in the woods. I often saw them crossing roads. The last time I saw a bear in the woods- it was down slope from me maybe 100 yards. I barked at it like a mad dog and it ran like hell- away from me. 🙂
And what was that bear doing in the woods?
Probably looking for a female bear. 🙂
Every indigenous tribe in North America used to aggressively hunt bears for food. That is not being done now. We should be hunting bears near settlements.
There is a lot of propaganda now as tribal people have to be depicted as magical protectors. There are bear fanatic groups also.
An Ebook on the subject is offline temporarily.
Ebook on Traditional Animal Foods in Northern North AmericaCINE’s co-director, Murray Humphries, and CINE’s founding director, Harriet Kuhnlein
AP wants to sell news as that is way they make money so the reporters and owners can buy those fancy homes on the beach and keep away the riff raff, that is us. Lies and distortions is a way of life for the news 24/7/365.
Since Alk Gore predicted the end of Polar Bears the number of Polar Bears increased massively.
Maybe the same tragic faith happened to brown and African American bears?
Add a little bit Arson and bad forest management to the mix and the noise of 1000 new windmills that drives animals crazy
and you will see a lot more hairy feral climate refugees.
In the eastern United States prior to the early 20th Century, the American chestnut could be found in the billions through the forests of the East from Maine and NE, NY, PA, Ohio, parts of Indiana and all the way down Appalachia into parts of the southern states. The chestnuts they provided were a plentiful and rich food source for bears and other wildlife.
Sadly, an Asian chestnut blight was accidentally introduced into the country around the turn of the 20th century and killed off the chestnut trees throughout their range, thus eliminating a significant food source for the bears and other wildlife. Scientists at various universities are working on a genetically altered blight-resistant American chestnut tree variety, and are reportedly making some progress. It will take a very long time however before the American chestnut can be seen in Eastern forests again to provide a food source for the bears.
From AI:
Why Bears Eat Chestnuts
********************
American Chestnut Tree Restoration Project:
American Chestnut Restoration | The American Chestnut Foundation
I can’t say if the absence of the chestnut trees has been playing a role in bears invading human populated areas in search of food in the East for these many decades. It would not surprise me though if it were true. Remember the Christmas song, “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose….”
I agree though, blaming this on climate change is total B.S.
Addendum: Good News….
https://www.esf.edu/news/2026/usda_approves_american_chestnut_project.php
“SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Aug. 31, 2026 — Efforts by researchers at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) to restore the American chestnut tree to the American landscape took a significant leap forward with an approved designation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that ESF’s genetically modified Darling chestnut trees are unlikely to pose a threat to other plants.
ESF’s American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project announced that the USDA Animal and Plant Inspection Service (APHIS) has completed its review of blight-tolerant Darling 54 American chestnuts and determined the trees are unlikely to pose a plant pest risk.
While USDA approval does not mean the trees are yet available to the public, it represents a significant regulatory achievement in the restoration process. The decision marks the completion of the first major federal regulatory review for the American chestnut. Researchers view the approval as an important advancement in the long-term effort to return this iconic tree to forests and landscapes where it once played a vital ecological role.”
The article says the Darling Chestnut still needs approval from the EPA.
That is good news.
At my late significant other’s Blue Ridge mountain cabin in north Georgia (a private inholding within the Chatahoochee National Forest, we always had lots of black bears roaming around. The primary hyperphagia food was the oak tree mast crop. They loved just walking up our long driveway (a couple hundred yards), because the acorns were just sitting there waiting to be gobbled up.
I cannot understand why predatory animals must be allowed to live in towns and cities. Here in BC there are not only bears, but parts of Vancouver are over run with coyotes, the outskirts of Victoria with cougars. Small dogs, cats and children have to be monitored closely.
What is wrong with having a 5 mile zone around dense human habitation where dangerous animals are shot.
p.s. Rather than kill the rabbits over running the U Vic campus, they had to be shipped to a “rabbit rescue place” in the US!
Ask your local greenie nuts why-some years back they tried to force an open pathway for griz in Utah from one griz area to another, I believe, maybe around Provo? Anyways, the proposed “pathway” would have run thru suburban landscapes-with suburbanites included. Can you imagine taking the trash out, waiting for a schoolbus, or just taking a walk on a griz expressway? Neither can I-but those idiots thought it a great idea and fought to get it approved. It wasn’t, but I think it was a close thing. We have black bears nearby here in SW MO; we’re just a few miles N of the State’s bear research center and we are always on the lookout.
“I cannot understand why predatory animals must be allowed to live in towns and cities.”
Humans are predatory animals. 🙂
Good, except it should be “number of bears” not “amount of bears.” They are discrete individuals. Trivial, yes, but this always bugs me.
— your ever-loving grammar Nazi.
This is another example of the desperation of climate alarmists who try to attribute any departure from normal to man-made climate change. If bears are being driven to adopt such aggressive behavior, why aren’t we seeing the same by other large predators like wolves, cougars, lynxes, bobcats, coyotes, wolverines, etc.? Or maybe there’s not such a problem in the first place and these attacks are being caused by humans encroaching on bear territory more than before. It’s like more wildfires that aren’t being caused by climate change but by careless and irresponsible humans and poor land management practices.
Want the actual truth about increased bear encounters? Really? People leaving trash with food waste accessible to bears/trashpandas AND wild bird feeding. Yes, folks, go out and look under your bird feeders. See that patch of ground where all that seed and seed shells are? That smell draws bears in, then they go for the trash, uncleaned grills and everything else that smells appetizing. Which to bears is a VAST number of things around human occupied structures. Climate and weather ain’t got a damned thing to do with it.