A Fed Bear is a Dead Bear: Wildlife Officials Defend Deputies' Decision to Shoot

New Mexico Game and Fish backs Otero County deputies despite animal not being the one approved for killing

Over the Fourth of July weekend, police shot and killed a black bear inside Cloudcroft village limits. Rumors quickly spread on social media. This report examines what actually happened.

This account draws on incident reports, body‑camera footage, law enforcement interviews, and follow‑up reporting.

Cut to the Chase:

• On July 5th, after a 45‑minute chase, Otero County Sheriff deputies shot a bear inside Cloudcroft village limits.

• Officials later confirmed this was not the bear previously approved for euthanasia.

• The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish nonetheless backed the deputies’ decision.

• Body‑camera footage of the incident is included in this article—viewer discretion advised.

Below: the village council’s response, other bear incidents, and tips on preventing “nuisance bears.”

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What Happened?

The shooting occurred on the evening of July 5th, hours after Cloudcroft’s July Fourth parade, as residents wound down from barbecues and dances. Two gunshots rang out on Sugar Pine Drive at the south end of the village.

Shortly after 8:00 p.m. that evening, three deputies were called about a bear rifling through a dumpster on Maple Drive.

Normally, such calls are handled by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, but no conservation officers were available that night—leaving the sheriff’s office to respond.

For 45 minutes, deputies pursued the bear through backyards and roadways, mistaking it for an animal that Game and Fish had previously approved for euthanasia.

“Game and Fish told us if we get this guy to just put him down,” one deputy said on body‑camera footage. “This is the one that got into the Jeep and then got into other properties.”

But it wasn’t the same bear. According to Sgt. Trevor Nygren of NMDGF, the animal deputies killed, had never been relocated before.

Deputies later wrote in their report that they were “concerned for public safety” given the heavy holiday foot traffic in the neighborhood.

The tension was apparent in bodycam footage, as deputies debated whether to haze the bear or take lethal action.

The deputies’ initial plan was to deter the bear into the forest.

One deputy loaded a shotgun with non-lethal rubber bullets while another deployed an AR-15 rifle. “Nate, we've got to do everything we can to not use live ammo; this is very densely populated,” said one of the deputies.

During the pursuit, the animal hopped fences, attempted to climb trees and followed trails through the neighborhood that deputies thought the bear knew.

“You think it’s worth just putting him down or trying to get him out of here because we’re going to piss him off,” asked one of the deputies.

The bear jumped onto a second-story deck of an occupied residence during the chase. Deputies shouted at a man to stay inside the house as the man attempted to open a door onto the deck where the bear was. The man said he had a bear on his porch the previous night too.

At 8:47 p.m., after the bear entered a wooded lot, a deputy fired from an AR‑15, striking it. Just over a minute later, the deputy discharged his pistol at close range to end the animal’s suffering.

Above is body camera footage from one of the sheriff’s deputies. It has been modified by the Reader to protect the privacy of the public. The shooting occurs at approximately 31:15. Warning: contains mature content.

Deadly Decision: “Appropriate Action”

Two of the deputies stood by the deceased animal after it was shot. One says, “here’s the other flip side of this; we just abandon it, right…and [the bear] mauls a person, or somebody’s out taking out their trash and the bear pops out and strikes them, or it starts mauling them because it thinks the person throwing trash is trying to attack them. Either way we lose.”

The other deputy responds, “what they [the public] need to understand is to stop feeding friggin bears.”

In the post-incident report one of the deputies states, “I determined it unsafe to discharge the rubber slug at further distances as there was a potential for the projectile to skip off the animal and impact a residence.”

During a recent phone call, Sergeant Nygren said “any law enforcement agency, if they’re protecting the public or if there’s a human safety concern, by all means whatever appropriate action they think they need to take, they can.”

Nygren summarized his investigation in his incident report:

“Based on the information I was provided the bear did display Unacceptable Behavior.”

“Any overt action by an animal that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their or someone else's safety (i.e. entering a residence regardless of attractant)…An animal that continues to disturb, raid, cause property damage or frequents high human-use areas and has not responded to aversive conditioning or has a history of such behavior.”

The question that will remain unanswered is—what would the bear have done if it hadn’t been chased? Would it have attacked someone, like a child, as the deputies feared? Or would it have fled as humans approached, and returned to dumpster dive another day, perhaps until it could be relocated?

“There’s always going to be bears around Cloudcroft,” says Nygren.

The Village Responds

During a village council meeting after the incident, Sergeant Nygren and Corporal Chavez gave a public presentation about bears and bear safety.

Trustee Tabitha Foster proposed new ordinances targeting the feeding of wildlife in Cloudcroft.

The proposals could mirror those of other cities with active wildlife populations. Ruidoso adopted a municipal ordinance in 2019 that makes it illegal to feed wildlife either intentionally or out of negligence. Violators are first issued a warning. Repeat violations could result in fines and imprisonment.

The Ruidoso law defines food, trash, and salt licks as wildlife attractants. While bird feeders are permitted in the village, “bird feeders that are accessed by animals other than birds or squirrels are in violation,” states the ordinance.

Wildlife laws are generally easier to enforce at a municipal level as departments like Game and Fish are often spread thin.

Vacation rentals are encouraged to educate their guests about bear safety and feeding wildlife through flyers or guest correspondence.

Game and Fish sometimes provides rubber buckshot ammunition to landowners who report nuisance bears and want to scare them away.

“So any time there’s a sighting in a public area, schools, neighborhoods, campsites, or town, we want to make sure to keep track of those bears just so we know kind of where they’re moving around,” said Chavez about when to call Game and Fish about the animals.

While they may not respond to a call about a bear just wandering a quiet neighborhood street, Game and Fish especially encourages the public to call when a bear is being a nuisance, acting aggressive, or breaking into buildings and vehicles.

“Bears don’t like ammonia or mothballs,” said Chavez. They can be good deterrents to put around your home.

Hopefully, the village will follow through with the push to educate Cloudcroft’s residents and visitors. Simple signage, passing an ordinance, and enforcement could help protect the public and wildlife.

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Go Deeper: The Bear Facts

Game and Fish estimates there to be 9,000 black bears in the state of New Mexico. The department estimates that 325 of those bears live in the southern Sacramento Mountains, which encompasses Cloudcroft.

Cloudcroft has seen an uptick in bear sightings this year.

Ring camera and cell phone footage of the animals on porches, in yards, and at hummingbird feeders have been shared almost weekly on local Facebook groups.

The bear that was killed was one of many that have roamed the village this summer. The animals are still active around Cloudcroft at the time of this publishing.

While Game and Fish does not believe the bear population has increased around the village, the swell in sightings could mean some local bears are becoming habituated to human-derived food sources.

“Every year we get calls: bears breaking into trash cans, bears walking the street looking for food. That’s common for sure, but an aggressive bear that’s breaking into houses…I mean maybe we’ll get one a year, if not more. It just depends on the year,” says Corporal Anthony Chavez, a conservation officer with NMDGF.

Conservation officers can identify individual bears by color, unique markings, and size.

“We don’t really do too much with nuisance critters,” says Chavez.

“But like aggressive bears, bears breaking into houses, bears killing livestock, acting aggressive, charging humans, stalking humans; that’s when we get involved and we set traps and euthanize bears. We euthanize those bears because once they start breaking into houses, once they start acting aggressive, they’re not going to stop doing that. They’re going to hurt somebody.”

A nuisance bear is not the same as an aggressive bear, but the saying goes: a fed bear is a dead bear. Wild animals that grow accustomed to people, houses and human food sources are more likely to be killed.

“Nuisance is basically them just getting into trash cans, getting into hummingbird feeders, dog feeders outside, and things like that,” says Chavez.

Some nuisance bears are relocated, but they often return to the same food sources from which they were taken.

“Relocated bears often try to return home where they feel comfortable. Many are killed crossing roadways along the way. If they do survive the journey back, they usually resume their conflict behavior. And new bears will continue to be lured in as long as attractants remain,” according to BearWise, a program run by biologists with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

Recent Incidents in Cloudcroft and the State

Black bear attacks are rare, but not unheard of. According to BearWise, “most bears will retreat before you are even aware of their presence.”

In 2018, a 70 year-old Cloudcroft man was mauled by a bear in the village when he stepped out of his house early in the morning. A statement released by Game and Fish officers said they found bowls of “dog or cat food” left outside.

“The man admitted to feeding wildlife with cracked corn at his residence, the release stated. He also told officers that a minimum of four bears routinely have been coming into the residence,” wrote the El Paso Times about the 2018 incident.

The message is clear.

Two years earlier, a Cloudcroft man shot and killed a bear at his home during a confrontation between the bear and his dogs. The female bear had cubs with her, but BearWise states that aggressively protecting cubs is more of a Grizzly Bear trait than black bear. You may read about that incident here.

Reports of a black bear harassing visitors at Jordan Hot Springs in the Gila Wilderness made headlines earlier this year; and in 2020, a woman was severely injured by a black bear at the Pajarito Ski Area near Los Alamos, New Mexico.

“Bears that hang around neighborhoods or businesses are symptoms of a larger problem. Their continued presence means that they are likely finding and eating unsecured garbage, birdseed from feeders, pet foods, or other non-natural, human-provided foods. If you eliminate the food sources, you can eliminate the problem and help keep people safe and bears wild,” states BearWise.

Newly Bear Aware? Here are the Bear Facts.

• Never feed bears. It is illegal to create a nuisance by feeding bears.

• Secure food, garbage, and recycling. Do not leave trash outside and use bear-proof trash receptacles when able.

• Remove bird feeders when bears are active. This includes both hummingbird and seed feeders. Bears like them both.

• Never leave pet food outside. Feed portions to outdoor pets that will be completely eaten during each meal. Store food bowls inside when pets are finished eating.

• Clean and store grills. Bears are attracted to the smells and fats leftover after grilling. Clean and store a grill in a secure area after each use.

• Livestock (including chicken pens) and beehives should be kept away from your house.

If You Encounter a Bear

• Don’t run! Stay calm.

• Stand upright, and slowly wave your arms.

• Back away slowly from a bear.

• Look for cubs, do not come between a mother and her cubs.

• Fight back. If attacked, fight back aggressively.

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