Bear Steals Food Hamper After Breaking Into Truck: 'Lock Your Car Doors'

A bear has broken into a parked truck and stolen a bag from inside, leading to a strong warning from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department.

"In case you were looking for a sign to lock your car doors—this is it," the Parks and Wildlife Department said in a Facebook post.

"We've already received 173 reports of bear activity in 25 CO counties this year. Bears should NOT be eating from trash receptacles, bird feeders or other human-provided food sources. Also if you have food inside your vehicle—lock your doors!"

In video footage of the incident, the bear can be seen sniffing around the truck on the driver's side. Once it arrives at the door, it rears up onto its hind legs and tugs at the handle, coaxing the door open with its paws.

Its next move is even more ingenious: the bear pulls out a bright pink cooler box, which it then uses as a stepping stool to climb into the truck and remove a black food hamper.

It then jumps out of the vehicle and runs off into the bushes with the hamper in its mouth.

Colorado is home to between 8,000 and 12,000 black bears. They are naturally shy and wary of humans, but may still be attracted to the smell of human food. Although they will normally run away from humans, they are powerful apex predators that can be very dangerous if they feel threatened.

A black bear's nose is 100 times more sensitive than a human's, and they can smell food from over five miles away. It's no wonder, therefore, that this bear was able to smell the picnic hamper from inside the truck.

The video has been viewed over 25,000 times on social media and has received hundreds of comments from users.

"This is why you're supposed to lock your doors in the woods/mountains. It's not about people stealing your stuff, it's about bears being way smarter than people think," commented one user.

"Sometimes you just gotta grin and bear it," quipped another.

To keep bears off your property, it is important to remove any food sources that might attract them. Bird feeders, pet food and open trash are all fair game as far as the bear is concerned, and once they know where to find food they will keep coming back.

If you see a bear on your property, you should call your local wildlife service or patrol personnel rather than trying to approach the animal yourself.