Sick bear has to be euthanized after eating trash people left behind, CO officials say

A “feverish” black bear was euthanized after the trash he ate left his intestines clogged, making it impossible for him to digest food, Colorado officials said.

A 400-pound male bear was euthanized on Sept. 9 after showing signs of infection created by a blockage after eating human trash, according to a Sept. 13 news release by Colorado Park and Wildlife.

Wildlife personnel first got reports of a sick bear near a river trail in Telluride on Sept. 9, officials said.

The bear, known in the area for being shooed away from public places by police for being in public places, “had puffy eyes and discharge coming from its mouth and eyes,” officials said.

Video given to wildlife officials showed the bear in a “humped position” and hesitant to walk, the release said.

“The bear could not digest food and was very sick,” Colorado Park and Wildlife area wildlife manager Rachel Sralla said in the release. “It all comes back to trash, which we talk about too often when it comes to bear conflicts in Colorado. The reason we had to put this bear down was to end its suffering that was caused by eating indigestible trash.”

On Sept. 10, wildlife officers conducted a necropsy and found the bear had paper towels, wipes, napkins and wax paper food wrappers in his stomach and intestines, officials said.

The starving bear had enlarged intestines from bacteria beginning to rot, officials said. There was no digested food in the bear’s small or large intestines.

“We could not leave a sick bear like this knowing it was suffering and struggling to survive,” Sralla said in the release. “When you have a very fat 400-pound bear, it will take it ages to starve to death. That’s a horrific way to die, decaying from the inside out for that long. As officers, we had to make an unfavorable call. It’s a call we wish we never had to make.”

Wildlife officers urge the public to “properly secure trash to avoid bear conflict,” officials said. Failure to properly get rid of trash can result in a fine.

Telluride is in southwestern Colorado, about 200 miles southwest of Denver.

This story was originally published September 13, 2023 at 12:56 PM with the headline "Sick bear has to be euthanized after eating trash people left behind, CO officials say."