COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A 300-pound black bear died after breaking into an unlocked car in central Colorado Springs and becoming trapped inside, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, an incident that comes amid what the agency is describing as a record-breaking year for bear activity across the state.

The bear entered the unlocked vehicle, destroyed much of its interior while attempting to get out, and ultimately became stuck, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The animal died inside the car and went undiscovered for several days in the summer heat before being found. Wildlife officials estimated the bear weighed roughly 300 pounds and believe it was likely drawn into the vehicle by a scent or food attractant left inside.

The incident is one of a growing number of bear-related conflicts reported across Colorado this year, as extreme drought conditions have significantly reduced the natural food sources bears typically rely on, pushing them farther into neighborhoods, campgrounds and other areas populated by people. According to figures from Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the agency received 6,129 reports of bear sightings and conflicts statewide between Jan. 1 and Aug. 13, nearly double the 3,115 reports recorded during the same period in 2025. A separate, more recent tally from the agency put the statewide total at more than 7,000 reports as of Aug. 20, compared with roughly 5,400 reports recorded by that same point in 2025.

Rachael Gonzales, public information officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, described the scale of this year’s bear activity in stark terms. “This year, it’s not even that we are on track for a record year; it is a record year for the number of human bear reports that CPW as an agency has seen,” Gonzales said.

The surge in reported conflicts has been especially pronounced in parts of northwest Colorado. In Routt County, reported bear sightings have climbed 219% compared with 2025, according to new data from Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Gonzales connected that spike directly to the region’s ongoing drought conditions. “Bears right now are in search of food, and they are opportunistic,” Gonzales said.

Statewide, Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported a 68% increase in bear reports over the prior year for the first seven months of 2026. Brad Banulis, the agency’s senior terrestrial biologist, addressed the trend during a July 28 sportspersons’ meeting in Grand Junction. “Bears are tough this year,” Banulis said, noting that while conflicts had increased gradually through early summer, the situation intensified more sharply in recent weeks. “Now we’re definitely seeing conflicts go up a lot across the region, really across the Western Slope at least, maybe even statewide, with this drought,” he said.

Kris Middledorf, the agency’s area wildlife manager, described the situation in Routt County specifically as an “unprecedented surge in human-bear interactions.”

Beyond property damage and vehicle break-ins, this year’s drought-driven bear activity has also coincided with a rare cluster of bear attacks. According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the agency’s northwest region, which covers counties west of Jackson, Grand and Summit counties and north of Mesa, Pitkin and Eagle counties, recorded four bear attacks between Jan. 1 and Aug. 20, the highest number of reported attacks in that region over the past decade. Statewide, five bear attacks have been reported so far in 2026, a total that, while elevated, still falls short of the seven attacks recorded in 2020, six each in 2019 and 2023, and five in 2017.

Gonzales emphasized that bear attacks remain a genuinely rare occurrence in Colorado despite this year’s unusual activity levels. “Bear attacks in Colorado are very rare,” Gonzales said. “Between 1960 and today, Colorado has only had 105 bear attacks.” Over that same 66-year period, four of those attacks have proven fatal, with the most recent fatal attack occurring in 2021 near Durango.

The underlying driver behind this year’s spike in bear activity is Colorado’s ongoing extreme drought, which has significantly reduced the availability of natural food sources bears depend on, particularly berries, during the late summer months. With berry supplies limited this year, bears have increasingly searched closer to towns and communities for alternative food sources. Wildlife officials have expressed particular concern about how conflict levels might continue evolving into the fall, as bears enter a biological state known as hyperphagia, during which their caloric needs spike dramatically, reaching as much as 20,000 calories per day, as they work to build fat reserves ahead of winter hibernation.

Colorado is home to an estimated 17,000 to 20,000 black bears, the vast majority of which live on the state’s Western Slope, according to wildlife officials. In recent years, a combination of population growth, increased tourism and fluctuating food availability has steadily driven up bear conflicts, particularly in mountain communities where human development increasingly overlaps with bear habitat.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has repeatedly emphasized that incidents like the Colorado Springs vehicle death are largely preventable. Wildlife managers say residents and visitors can significantly reduce the risk of bear encounters by keeping vehicles locked, ensuring windows are fully closed, and removing all trash, food and scented items from cars and outdoor spaces. Officials have specifically warned that once a bear successfully obtains food from a vehicle, it is highly likely to return to the same area seeking similar opportunities, a pattern that increases risk for both people and the bears themselves over time.

As Colorado’s drought conditions show no clear signs of easing heading into the fall, wildlife officials continue urging residents across the state to remain vigilant about securing food, trash and other potential attractants, both to protect public safety and to reduce the likelihood of additional bears becoming trapped, injured or killed while searching for food in populated areas during what has already proven to be one of the most active bear seasons in the state’s recorded history.