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Black Bears are native to Colorado. Their diet typically consists of nuts, berries, and other foliage. Bouts of dryness can affect food source growth cycles, leaving Black Bears on the hunt for other food sources. In many instances, Black Bears turn to trash and other domesticated sources to quench their hunger. According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), there were 4,644 reported incidents with bears between January 1st and November 1st of 2024. Logan Cole and I analyzed drought patterns and bear incidents throughout Colorado to better understand the relationship between drought and conflict.
Reported Incidents and Drought Data
Using the ggplot function in R, I plotted bear incidents by month/region in Colorado atop a drought shapefile from the US Drought Monitor. In some cases, we found that human-bear conflict did occur in areas with drought. Take the graphics to the left, for example. Drought is present in the eastern districts over these four months. Bear incidents are also on the much higher on the eastern side of the state than the two western districts.
Graphic Depicting 2021 Average Drought in Colorado Compared to Bear Incidents
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