Sadly, Connecticut has a record number of home break-ins by bears and two reported bear attacks on people in 2022, lawmakers are currently considering a new bill to retool the state's bear policy. Connecticut is currently the only northeast state with a breeding bear population that will not allow bear hunting in the state.
According to NBC Connecticut "Lawmakers voted Friday to allow special state permits to kill bears that threaten or damage crops, livestock or bees. However, they shelved a more contentious proposal to allow a limited bear hunt supported by state environmental officials grappling with an increase in human-bear conflicts. "The proposed annual bear hunt, which would have been limited to a northwestern Connecticut county, was pulled following outcry from animal rights advocates who argued it was inhumane and wouldn't reduce the number of incidences."
"Connecticut is the only Northeast state with a breeding bear population that does not allow bear hunting. This proposal would change that. It would allow a hunting lottery in Litchfield County and set up a permit system for farmers to shoot wildlife threatening agricultural crops. Those opposed to a bear hunt say the state doesn’t have a bear problem, it has a human behavior problem. The Connecticut League of Conservation Voters said that hunting will not stop nuisance bears if homeowners don’t stop providing easy sources of food and that the state needs to do a better job of educating the public and investing in non-lethal solutions," according to Connecticut Public.
"Last October, a bear attacked a 10-year-old boy in Litchfield County. DEEP announced this week that there had been a second case of a bear injuring a human before then, also in Litchfield County. The agency said the bear was not caught, but it was not the same bear that attacked the 10-year old boy in Morris. That bear was euthanized. The cause of both attacks is unclear, but they came at the same time that bears lacked a key natural food source, acorns. The state had a widespread acorn crop failure in the fall of 2022." Taken from the Connecticut Public website.
Comments / 84