Аялагчдын дунд түгээмэл ашиглагддаг Apex Park-д гарсан энэхүү явдал нь зэрлэг амьтдын зан төлөв өөрчлөгдөж буйг анхааруулсан үйл явдал боллоо.
Зургаадугаар сарын 21-ний ням гарагт АНУ-ын Колорадо мужийн Rocky Mountains орчмын Apex Park-д явган аялал хийж явсан эмэгтэйг хар баавгай дайрчээ. Хохирогч Enchanted Forest Trail маршрутаар ганцаараа аялж байхдаа баавгайд халдлагад өртөж, хөлдөө бага зэргийн гэмтэл авсан байна. Тэрээр хашхирч, мод, чулуу шидэн тэмцсэн ч амьтан түүнийг 30 гаруй минутын турш мөшгижээ. Бусад аялагчид тусламж үзүүлсний дараа баавгай ойролцоох жалга руу явж, өөр бүлэг хүмүүсийг дагасан байна.
Колорадогийн Байгаль хамгаалал ба ан амьтны газрын (CPW) төлөөлөгч Кара Ван Хоусын мэдээлснээр, баавгай хүнд дассан байж болзошгүй бөгөөд хоол хүнс хайх зуршил нь түүнийг хүнээс айх айдасгүй болгосон байх магадлалтай аж. Тус байгууллагаас тухайн бүс нутагт баавгайн идэвхжил хэвийн үеийнхээс эрс нэмэгдсэнийг онцолсон байна. Энэ жил цас бага орсноос үүдэн байгалийн идэш тэжээл хомсдож, баавгайнууд суурьшлын бүс рүү ойртох нь элбэгшжээ.
Одоогоор эрх бүхий байгууллагууд 700 акр талбай бүхий тус паркийг түр хугацаагаар хааж, баавгайг эрэн сурвалжилж байна. Мэргэжилтнүүд баавгайн зан төлөв болон эрүүл мэндийн байдлыг үнэлсний дараа түүнийг нүүлгэн шилжүүлэх эсвэл устгах эсэхээ шийдвэрлэхээр төлөвлөж байгаа аж. Аялагчдыг зэрлэг амьтны идэш тэжээлийн эх үүсвэрийг хөндөхгүй байх, байгальд аялахдаа аюулгүй байдлын дүрэм журмыг чанд мөрдөхийг зөвлөж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
A black bear attacked and subsequently stalked a Colorado hiker in Apex Park, a wilderness area in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, on Sunday, June 21. The incident marks the state’sfirst reported bear attack of the season, and wildlife experts warn that it reflects unusual behavior in a year with high bear activity.
“This encounter lasted a really long time,” Kara Van Hoose, public information officer with responding agency Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), told Outside. “It was about 30 minutes. Normally, bear conflicts don’t last that long.”
“It’s a red flag,” she added.
According to Van Hoose, the hiker, whose name and age have not been released, suffered minor injuries. The woman was hiking alone on the Enchanted Forest Trail when she encountered a black bear that ripped off her backpack and scratched her leg. The woman tried to scare the bear off by shouting and throwing sticks and rocks. Still, the animal followed her down the trail for more than half an hour.
After two other hikers came to the woman’s aid, the bear left and crossed a nearby gully, where it began following another group of people.
By the time CPW officers responded to the scene, the bear was gone, Van Hoose said. Authoritiesclosed the entire 700-acre park for an undetermined period.
Van Hoose added that the victim didn’t appear to have done anything wrong—she wasn’t even carrying food. The bear seemed acclimated to humans and wasn’t scared.
“We think it’s possible this bear had gotten into trash or been rewarded before with unnatural food,” Van Hoose said. “Maybe it was fed before by humans. We can’t say for sure, but when we see this type of behavior, that’s where our mind goes. It’s used to human presence, and now its food drive has overtaken anything else that would have caused it to run away.”
Authorities say they are still searching for the bear and may relocate or euthanize it once they find it.
“We’re still evaluating our options,” Van Hoose said. “We want to be able to observe the bear and see how it behaves, if we can notice any health problems, for example. First, we need to find it.”
The First Bear Attack of What Could Be an Unprecedented Year
Somewhere between 17,000 and 20,000 black bears live in Colorado, Van Hoose said. Sunday’s encounter is the first recorded bear attack in the state this year, but reports of bears are already abnormally high. The CPW has logged more than 1,500 bear reports this year. At the same time last year, there were only around 1,000.
“A bear report can mean a bear sighting, or it could mean that a bear got into someone’s trash,” Van Hoose said. “Basically, it’s any time someone calls us about a bear.”
Since records began in 1960, Colorado has recorded 97 attacks, three of which occurred in 2025. This uptick in sightings and an unusually warm winter suggest that bears may be particularly problematic this season,according to Van Hoose.
“We’re expecting this to be a higher conflict year with bears because we have a historically low snowpack,” she said. “The Colorado winter didn’t really happen. We didn’t get the normal amount of snow that would sustain bears’ natural food sources, the cherries and berries that they should be eating. Bears still have to eat, and in drought years, they go into neighborhoods and towns, looking for trash and food.”
Leaving food or water out for animals during a drought year can worsen bear problems.
“It’s harmful for them,” Van Hoose said. “It leads to habituation and disease spread. They can find food and water on their own; they may just need to search a little bit more than last year.”
The CPW has six recommendations from the nonprofit education organization BearWise to help Coloradans stay safe from bears while recreating outside.
The post A Black Bear Stalked a Hiker for 30 Minutes. What Happened Next Has Experts Talking. appeared first on Outside Online.
