r/ColoradoSprings • u/Techie4evr • 13d ago

News PSA:Bear Alert(brown)

Be Carefull, Brown bear spotted just past Austin Bluffs Pkwy & Union. Seen him @ 6:03am

0 Upvotes

40% Upvoted

66 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

15

u/Abject_Egg_194 13d ago

This post is both correct and incorrect. There are no brown bears, as in there are no Ursus arctos also known as grizzly bears. But there are brown colored black bears in Colorado, which is probably what the OP saw.

4

u/Old-Climate2655 13d ago

While Ursus Arctos and Ursus Horiribilis are both considered locally extinct to the state, Arctos has been confirmed to be in Southern Wyoming. It isn't inconceivable that one or two are in far north Colorado. There is even a confirmed wolverine presence up there now. Arctos and even Horribilis have been steadily expanding their ranges southward for s while now.

But not this far south (yet 😬)...

2

u/Abject_Egg_194 13d ago

That's interesting to hear.

Honestly, I was a little bit surprised to hear the OP saw a black bear at Union and Austin Bluffs. I figured east of 25 would be too far for black bears.

2

u/Old-Climate2655 13d ago

Rarely, they've been spotted east of Powers. You can walk from the foothills to just past Powers without walking across a street. Also consider the proximity of Ute Valley, Pulpit Rock, the Austin Bluffs Open Space and Palmer Park and I'm surprised it doesn't happen a bit more often.