COLORADO NEWS

Massive black bear caught on camera in Durango

Oct 22, 2024, 3:21 PM | Updated: 3:37 pm

One Colorado bear is making it known that he is prepared to hibernate.

Although black bears aren’t necessarily uncommon in Durango, one captured on camera stood out from the rest. Why? To quote Colorado Parks and Wildlife Southwest Region, “He’s a thicc boi!”. CPW SW posted the footage of the unusually massive animal making preparations for hibernation to its social media channels on Friday.

Black Bear

Credit: Colorado Parks and Wildlife Southwest Region

In a series of four tweets, which included one photo and three videos, CPW SW remarked, “We thought we had seen really fat Durango bears before. But this one takes the cake. It also probably ate the cake. Every cake.” The post has over 5,000 likes and 235,000 views.

Although the post noted the video was taken in the town in the southwestern corner of the state near the New Mexico border, it didn’t specify the exact area.

Typically speaking, black bears enter hibernation in Colorado at the beginning of November, according to the Colorado State Publications Blog. Leading up to that point in a state called hyperphagia, the bears take 20 hours out of their day to eat somewhere around 20,000 calories to prepare for the winter months, when their food sources of insects, grasses, berries and nuts become sparse.

One of the videos captures the “thicc boi” rooting around, presumably in search of more food, and the caption accompanying the video begs the question, “Genuinely need to know how much more this black bear thinks he needs to eat before finding a den this year?”

As research from CPW notes, Durango’s newest celebrity will utilize its extra fat during hibernation, when its heart rate and metabolism will slow by 50 to 60 percent and its heart rate by 12 percent. This typically lasts around 200 days, and the bear will likely not eat, drink or relieve itself.

If nothing else, it appears that the bears of Durango are getting their fill. This is proven by a similar situation, in which a black bear — characterized as an “absolute unit” — was found under the deck of a home in the western part of the town on September 19.

Bear with three cubs attacks Colorado man after breaking into his home

Colorado News

Ophelia's...

Shawn Patrick

Paranormal investigation TV show is looking for ghosts at a downtown Denver music venue

There is no shortage of haunted spots around Colorado, but a new TV show is zeroing in on one in downtown Denver for a new TV show. A group of […]

21 hours ago

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images...

Shawn Patrick

A Denver-area Gamestop store is going viral right now for a hilarious reason

Remember a few years back when Gamestop went viral because their stock skyrocketed for a bit? Well, they’re going viral again, but this time it’s because of one store in […]

21 hours ago

(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)...

Shawn Patrick

Airline that flies out of DIA announces it’ll charge for reclining seats

Airlines have been finding ways to nickel and dime us for years now, but this seems a little desperate…  WestJet is rolling out a major cabin refresh across its formerly economy-only […]

22 hours ago

Photo by Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images...

Shawn Patrick

Denver has most generous tippers in US

We find ourselves complaining about the influx in businesses asking for tips a lot these days, but in Denver, we may be more likely to actually do it. Dining rewards […]

2 days ago

Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post via Getty Images...

Shawn Patrick

2025’s final three free entry days at Denver Zoo are in November

With the announcement that four new baby lion cubs are now on display to the public at the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, it’s a perfect time to have a few […]

2 days ago

Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images...

Shawn Patrick

Savannah Bananas coming back to Denver in 2026

You’re likely one of two types of people…type one got lucky and saw the Savannah Bananas at one of their two games this summer at Coors Field in Denver, and […]

2 days ago

Massive black bear caught on camera in Durango