COLORADO SPRINGS, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A mother bear and two cubs were killed after they broke into a Colorado Springs home, wildlife officials said.

It was the second time in less than a week the Colorado Division of Wildlife responded to reports of bear break-ins and killed a mother bear and two cubs, The Gazette in Colorado Springs said Friday.

The bears were killed because they become a danger to people once they break into a residence, division spokesman Michael Seraphin said.

Bears instinctively feed at this time of year because they are trying to pack on some pounds before they hibernate, Seraphin said.

Homes on the city's west side extend into nearby mountains and human-bear interaction is unavoidable, the report said. It is made worse when people illegally feed the bears, as was reported in Thursday's incident.

"If anyone is doing that, it's only adding to the problem and it's a death sentence for the bears," Seraphin said. "We want to keep bears wild."

In an unrelated incident Thursday, a bear was shot and killed in a tree outside a Colorado Springs apartment complex. It was not known who killed that animal, the report said.