DENVER -- A deadly grizzly mauling in Yellowstone National Park has sparked discussion about how Coloradans should deal with bear confrontations here.

Wildlife experts stress that Colorado black bears are not normally aggressive like Yellowstone grizzlies. Black bears are wary of people and their typical response to perceived danger is to run away or climb a tree.

Officially, Colorado's last grizzly bear was killed in 1952.

Yet in 1979, a bow hunter named Ed Wiseman was mauled by a female grizzly in the San Juan Mountains. He survived by killing it with a hand-held arrow.

Some people suspect a tiny population of grizzlies could remain in the San Juans. But while state wildlife officials get reports of possible grizzly sightings occasionally, they have not been confirmed.

While the Yellowstone grizzly range is gradually expanding, experts say wolf packs are likely to returned to Colorado long before grizzlies do.

"Wolves in Colorado are a much, much greater possibility and we've had three wolves that we've been able to confirm that came into Colorado from the Yellowstone recovery program," said Randy Hampton, a Colorado Department of Wildlife spokesman for northwest Colorado.

"We do not anticipate, at least in the foreseeable, grizzlies beginning to wander in Colorado," he said, noting that the big bears don't expand their territory as swiftly as free-roaming wolves.

"There's just too many kinds of hazards in the way of them getting here, including cattle ranches in Wyoming and a major interstate highway," Hampton said.

But Coloradans already face plenty of challenges coexisting with black bears, whose state population is between 8,000 to 12,000. With more people living and playing in Colorado's bear country, human-bear encounters are on the rise.

"Prevention is the best way to avoid a situation like what they had in Montana," Hampton said, referring to the Yellowstone campground attack.

"Where problems occur is where people bring bears to close to them. It's always a food and bears are looking for food," he said.

With a nose that’s 100 times more sensitive than humans', a bear can smell food five miles away, DOW officials warn.

Bears are smart and have great memories. So, when bears find food in campgrounds or along trails, they associate those places with chow and come back for more.

"Clean up your camp. Trash is the number attractant for bears," Hampton said.

Don't bring anything in with an odor into your tent—including all foods, beverages, scented toiletries, gum, toothpaste, sunscreen, candles, and insect repellent. Don’t sleep in clothes you've cooked in.

Store food, beverages and other scented items in air tight containers and lock them in your car trunk. Use bear-proof containers or double plastic bags.

If you see a bear, never approach it or offer food, according to DOW's web guidelines: "Camping and Hiking in Bear Country."

"If you’re lucky enough to see a bear, watch from a safe distance and enjoy this very special experience. If your presence causes the bear to look up or change its behavior in any way, you’re too close," the website said.

Hampton said people can avoid running into bears on trails in the first place by making noise, talking loudly -- even singing.

"Because if you can, prevent the encounter in the first place -- and 99 percent of the time you can," he said. Take care of your camp, clean things up. Do all of the right things to prevent the encounter and you're far better off."

"If you do end up in an encounter with a black bear, you want make yourself appear as large as possible, you want to make some noise and toss sticks or rocks, back away slowly -- don't run," he said. "If you run, it'll chase you and it can climb trees faster than you can."

If a bear enters your camp, bang pots, blow a whistle or honk a car horn.

"Black bears will make bluff charges. They will run at you to see if you run," Hampton said. "If you stand your ground, 99 percent of the time they're going to turn around and go in the other direction."

But if a bear continues to approach, DOW advises using "bear spray" -- a highly concentrated pepper spray -- when the bear is about 40 feet away.

During grizzly bear attacks, people are advised to play dead. The theory is that grizzlies often attack when a human startles them and it will stop if the person lays quiet and motionless.

Hampton gives the opposite advice in the rare instance of a black bear attack.

"You don't want to play dead with anything in Colorado. The rule in the state of Colorado is to fight back," Hampton said.

If attacked, the DOW website states, "Fight back with anything available. People have successfully defended themselves with pen knives, trekking poles, and even bare hands."