A bear that charged two boys in a Colorado Springs open space Wednesday was euthanized, and its cubs tranquilized, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials announced Friday.
At 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4, officers responded to reports of a bear attacking two boys in a heavily wooded open space in Colorado Springs, according to a Friday news release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
When officers arrived on the scene, they found that an adult, female bear had charged at the boys, ages 12 and 13, twice and caused one boy to run into a tree branch, the release stated.
The Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers, alongside officers from the Colorado Springs Police Department, searched the open space for the 150-pound bear.
According to the news release, when the bear was aggressive toward an officer, another officer euthanized the bear.
“This was an unfortunate situation where a sow had become dangerously aggressive toward people instead of being scared of humans,” said Tim Kroening, CPW wildlife manager for the Pikes Peak area, in the release. “There was no choice but to put it down after it repeatedly charged people.”
Officers discovered the bear had two cubs, and placed a trap for them above the spot where the bear was first spotted.
According to the release, officers planned to capture the cubs and release them back into the mountains.
When they located the cubs, officers scared them up a tree so they could tranquilize the pair. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers hit each cub with a tranquilizing dart, causing them to fall from the tree, the release stated.
The officers then transported the cubs to Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s southeast regional office, where they were tagged for release and given a drug to reverse the tranquilizer. One of the cubs died from the drug, according to the release.
“The death of the cub was a sad reminder of why CPW is reluctant to tranquilize wildlife,” Kroening said in the release. “There are many risks involved when tranquilizing wildlife.”
The surviving cub was released Friday morning in a remote mountain location.
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