It's a Bear's Life

I went on a memorable reporting trip recently to a black bear's den, on the East side of Aspen Mountain. A group of Colorado State University Students, Division of Wildlife officials and a few others used snowshoes and skies to get to the den, 1200 vertical feet up a snowy, steep mountainside.

The students were wrapping up a multi-year study on the movement of black bears, particularly in urban areas. About 50 bears were outfitted with GPS collars and their feeding habits were tracked. The scientists discovered the bears prefer natural foods like service berries and acorns, over peoples' trash. But, the bears did resort to feasting on trash during bad food years. The study was meant to help City of Aspen officials and others make moves to prevent bears from getting into trash and potentially having dangerous run-in's with humans.

The students had been to this bear's den before, but this time they were removing the GPS collar that had been on the female bear for about one year. Once at the den, the group quietly loaded dart guns with tranquilizers. They squeezed into the small den to pull out the momma bear so they could check her health by taking her temperature and blood. A cub was curled up in the den too, and its health was checked.

The report by the CSU students will likely be released in one year. Then local officials can choose whether to use the information in dealing with bears in urban areas.