The reported sightings, however, do not tell the whole story. The sightings in the cities, which are represented by large numbers of legislators who are not pushing for hunting, were almost nonexistent with 20 in Hartford, one in New Haven, and zero in Bridgeport. There were 634 sightings last year in Avon, 622 in Simsbury, 403 in Farmington, 372 in Granby, and 315 in Bloomfield, according to state statistics. Kathleen GriffinA family of bears crosses New Britain Avenue in Unionville.īear sightings have been increasing in recent years in towns like Avon, Canton, and Simsbury the Farmington Valley and Litchfield County now lead the state in bear activity. The groups were the Humane Society of the United States, Friends of Animals, CT Votes for Animals, Connecticut League of Conservation Voters, and Connecticut Wildlife Rehabilitators Association. In strong opposition to hunting and in favor of education, five groups last year created the Connecticut Coalition to Protect Bears. The animal rights coalition has prevailed at the Capitol in recent years as hunting has been repeatedly rejected. In fact, bears were spotted last year in 156 of the state’s 169 municipalities, with 8,600 sightings total.ĭEEP says that Connecticut has more reported conflicts and vehicle collisions than Massachusetts - even though the Bay State has nearly four times as many bears. While bears have been seen in Litchfield County for years, they are now moving into suburban areas where they had rarely been seen before.įor the first time, Candelora, 53, says he has spotted bears in his district in North Branford and northern Guilford - communities close to Long Island Sound where bears had been uncommon in the past. If we’re not going to manage it accordingly, you are going to start to see fatalities.” While they may look cute, any number of wild animals are dangerous. … It’s concerning to me that there’s a lack of understanding that these are wild animals. “We should be concerned about this behavior and act accordingly.
They’re not like Yogi Bear,” Candelora said. “Contrary to their belief, these are wild animals.
Lawmakers and the general public, he said, need to take the issue more seriously. “We live in neighborhoods where people are putting out bread crumbs for birds and putting out leftover food for wild animals, and those are the exact type of behaviors that are causing bears to be coming up onto our porches and interacting with humans in order to get food,” Candelora said. Humans shoulder the blame, DEEP says, in feeding the bears, which makes it more likely for them to return to populated areas. Not only should we look at having an organized hunt in order to reduce the population, we also should be looking at an education campaign on how people should be preventing the bear population from becoming habituated.” It’s also about the change in their behavior that’s being exhibited. “In Connecticut, bears are continuing to become more and more habituated,” Candelora said in an interview. “It’s not just about the number of bears. The issue, he said, is not simply the increase in the bear population but also their increasing boldness as they search for food. But House Republican leader Vincent Candelora said that his caucus could offer an amendment on the House floor to force a vote on hunting as a last resort if no compromises are reached. Lawmakers will negotiate on the issue in the coming weeks in an attempt to reach a compromise before the legislative session adjourns on June 7. The home entries are up sharply from the previous record of 45 and far beyond the totals of 21 in 2018 and only 7 in 2015. But state officials said dozens of other attempts were blocked when locked doors kept bears out as they followed smells from kitchens across the state. In all three instances - in Avon, Morris, and Salisbury - the bears were euthanized under state protocols regarding dangerous animals.īears entered homes 67 times last year - the highest ever recorded in Connecticut history. On April 18, state officials were summoned to Salisbury after a 400-pound male black bear had broken into several homes, including the same home twice.
Prompted by a 74-year-old woman bitten by a black bear in a Hartford suburb, Connecticut legislators are reconsidering whether they should legalize hunting to stem the state’s growing bear population.Īfter the woman walking her dog was bitten in Avon and a 10-year-old boy was attacked last year in Litchfield County, legislators are now taking a hard look at a controversial bill for a limited hunt of 50 bears per year in Litchfield County, though the legislature’s environment committee already rejected it.
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