The bear weighed between 250 and 300 pounds and had enough strength to open the door of an unlocked car. It did so in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. It went in looking for food. But when the door closed behind it, it could no longer get out.
What followed was a desperate struggle against the metal and plastic: it destroyed the seats, the dashboard, and everything in its path as it tried to force an escape that never came. It died in there, in warm temperatures, without anyone noticing for several days.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife shared the case as a warning: so far in 2026, there have already been 6.129 reports of conflicts with bears in the state, nearly twice as many as the previous year. Drought and food shortages are pushing them ever closer to cities, and a simple unlocked car can become a deadly trap.
