DENVER – A black bear spotted roaming the Eastern Plains at various points in May was captured in a horse pasture near Calhan on Sunday and released back into the mountains.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife put out an alert about the bear on May 25 after it was spotted south of Limon and again in Lincoln County.
The bear was first reported May 11 by a person who spotted it in Ellicott, about 25 miles east of downtown Colorado Springs. CPW officers started tracking the bear from there.
It was next seen near Truckton, southeast of Ellicott.
The first bear sighting came to CPW's SE Region office in #ColoradoSprings May 11 from Ellicott. CPW tracked it to Truckton, Hugo and the Limon area. On Sunday, it was seen east of Calhan. CPW officers Sarah Watson and Ben Meier gave chase and found it in a horse pasture. (2/3) pic.twitter.com/7bhFer8Zmd
— CPW SE Region (@CPW_SE) June 1, 2021
The next time it was spotted, it was dozens of miles to the northeast, near Hugo. It was spotted later in May in the Limon area, about 15 miles northwest of Hugo.
CPW says two wildlife officers, Sarah Watson and Ben Meier, were told the bear was near Calhan on Sunday and “gave chase.” Calhan is about 36 miles southwest of Limon.
They found the bear being chased by horses in a pasture, and after two hours, were able to use a tranquilizer dart on the animal and release it into the mountains – “much more suitable bear habitat,” as CPW said.
The bear was a male bear, a boar, that was 2-3 years old. Black bears are typically only seen west of, or close to, I-25, but are known to explore the Black Forest and Palmer Divide – close to where this bear had been for the past month.