A 300-pound black bear died after getting trapped in a car left unlocked near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW) shared images of the aftermath from the incident, showing the car’s destroyed interior alongside remnants of fur.

Bears possess one of the keenest senses of smell in the animal kingdom, according to the National Parks Service. “A black bear’s sense of smell can easily be measured in miles,” NPS explains. That means if you leave food in the car, a bear is likely to seek it out. And while they can’t pick locks, food is enough of a motivation for them to figure out how to open an unlocked car door.

“Looking at a black bear’s head, it’s obvious that they have a very large nose,” NPS says. “The area inside a black bear’s nose, called the nasal mucosa, is 100 times greater than ours. This large nose results in an excellent sense of smell! Even bloodhounds, dogs so famous for their sense of smell that they’re used to track missing people, don’t smell as well a black bear. It is estimated that black bears’ sense of smell is about seven times greater than a bloodhound’s.”

The CPW offers a few tips for how to keep bears away from your vehicle:

• Lock your doors
• Remove all scented products (including food, trash, makeup, lotion, sunscreen)
• Roll up your windows

The Colorado Springs incident isn’t the first time a bear entered a vehicle in Colorado this summer. Last month in nearby Manitou Springs, police helped remove a bear trapped in a vehicle.

No one was injured and the bear ran off after being freed from the car.

In a recent press release, CPW blamed severe droughts for the record bear activity reported in 2026. “From Jan. 1 through Aug. 13, CPW received 6,129 reports of bear sightings and conflicts, compared with 3,115 during the same period in 2025. This year is on pace to have the highest number of bear reports since CPW implemented its statewide digital reporting system in 2019.”

Colorado recently passed an amendment that lowers the legal standard for fining people who knowingly feed bears. Multiple offenses can lead to fines of $5,000.