Colorado's Bears Are Starving — And They're Everywhere

Colorado is having its most active bear year on record — and I live right in the middle of it, in the Roaring Fork Valley outside Aspen. This summer alone, bears have shown up in backyards, on bike paths, in restaurant dumpsters, and up trees on residential streets just blocks from my house. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has logged over 6,100 bear reports so far in 2026 — nearly double last year at this point. In this video, I dig into why this is happening: an exceptional drought has wiped out the natural food bears rely on right as they enter hyperphagia, the critical fall feeding period before hibernation. That's pushing hungry bears straight into towns across the valley — and with a strong El Niño winter forecast ahead, I'm genuinely worried about how many of them will make it to spring. I also talked to a local wildlife rehab organization about why the "obvious" fixes — feeding bears in the mountains, relocating them — don't actually work, and what real difference we can make at home. Bear footage courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife (cpw.state.co.us). CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:41 Colorado bears and mountain lions 01:52 Colorado bears are everywhere right now 02:37 Colorado bears = drought 03:43 What will happen with El Nino coming? 04:45 Outro #ColoradoBears #RoaringForkValley #Aspen