Five orphaned bear cubs released into Colorado wilderness
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DIVIDE, Colo. — Five orphaned bear cubs returned to their natural habitat Thursday outside Divide, a result of Colorado Parks and Wildlife's relocation efforts.
“So today's a really exciting day because we have one of those big wins for wildlife conservation,” said Travis Sauder, the assistant aerial wildlife manager at CPW’s southeastern regional office.
CPW releases the bears near Divide, Colorado. Video: Chelsea Casabona, Rocky Mountain PBS
Three cubs were found outside of the Broadmoor residential area in Colorado Springs last July. Two were recovered in a neighborhood north of Woodland Park in August. Both mother bears were classified as dangerous bears because they both entered human dwellings, which required wildlife officers from CPW to euthanize the sows. CPW protocol that states if bears pose a threat to humans, they must be put down.
There are an estimated 17,000 to 20,000 bears in Colorado, according to CPW. In a 2022 interview with Fox31, Mark Vieira with CPW said that the highest bear density in Colorado was west of Pueblo and Walsenburg, with high densities in Durango and Aspen, as well.
Bears move. One year, the population can be dense in one area and other years it can be more dense in a different area, said Dean Miller, the public information officer for CPW’s southeast regional office. If it's a bad food year in the forest, the bears will come closer to humans in urban areas, he said.
CPW reported an above average number of bear conflicts and sightings in 2025, the highest on record since 2019.
According to CPW, the agency received 5,259 bear reports between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1, 2025, an increase from the 4,996 reports during the same period in 2024.
The report also stated that the “majority of incident reports involve bears trying to access human food sources… CPW continues to call on residents to remove attractants to reduce conflicts, keeping you and the bears safe.”
The five bear cubs had been at CPW’s Frisco Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Facility in the San Luis Valley and were transported to two separate locations west of Colorado Springs for their release.
While in rehabilitation, wildlife rehabilitation specialists withdrew food from the cubs so that their natural hibernation instinct started to kick in to replicate what happens in nature when food gets scarce in the fall. They also only gave the cubs food that they’d find in their natural environment, and ensured that the cubs did not become comfortable with humans.
“They're not going to look right back to those places that got in trouble in the very first place,” said Sauder.
Through CPW’s data gathering partnership with Colorado Springs’ Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, two cubs received ear tag GPS locators. Their research partnership started in 2022 and CPW said it is important for the agency to study the effectiveness of rehabilitation of orphans to hopefully prevent future bear conflicts with humans.
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.