BY STEPHEN UNDERWOOD HARTFORD COURANT
After a black bear slashed a Connecticut man’s chest as he was walking his dog in North Canaan last week, the debate over bear hunting in the state once again heats up.

Officials with the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said they responded to a report of a bear attack that occurred on Monday in North Canaan when a man came between the bear and his dog with cubs present on his property.

The incident was reported at approximately 5:53 a.m. According to officials, the man sustained minor injuries, described as scratches to his chest, and declined medical treatment at the scene. The dog was reportedly unharmed.

Connecticut Environmental Conservation Police and staff from the agency’s wildlife division said the location of the bear is still unknown, but bird feeders were in use on the property. The vast majority of the negative bear interactions stem from bird feeders and trash in yards, according to DEEP.

“As Connecticut’s bear population continues to grow and expand, it is imperative for residents to reduce potential conflicts by properly managing outdoor food sources such as bird seed and other feeders, garbage, pet food, backyard chickens and grills. Bears that access human-associated food often become food-conditioned and lose their natural fear of people, which can lead to increased risks and property damage,” said James Fowler, a DEEP spokesperson.

“Residents with pets or walking dogs in areas with known bear activity should also maintain high awareness of their surroundings. Carrying a bear deterrent, such as a bear whistle or bear spray, is recommended and we advise owners to keep their pets leashed, at all times, while on walks,” he said.
But despite the state’s best efforts to educate citizens on the importance of removing bird feeders, trash and food from yards, human-bear interactions continue to rise, showcasing a growing concern that bears are becoming less afraid of humans.

The number of bear sightings reached 159 out of the state’s 169 towns and cities last year, according to the 2025 “The State of the Bears,” an annual DEEP publication that tracks their growth.
Thousands of conflicts between humans and black bears are reported each year and are increasing, according to DEEP. Reports of bears entering or breaking into homes occurred 67 times in 16 different municipalities statewide in 2024.While the majority of human and bear conflicts are in the northwest corner of Connecticut, the agency said they are seeing more conflicts in other parts of the state, including Hartford and Fairfield counties. In 2015, there were less than 10 reports of bears entering or breaking into homes.

While bear home entries are reported throughout the Northeast, they occur more often in Connecticut, according to DEEP. Massachusetts and New York, each with about 4,500 and 7,000 bears respectively, see less than one home entry per 100 bears each year. Whereas over the last six years, Connecticut has averaged 3.7 home entries per 100 bears each year. Connecticut is the only state to not allow for a limited bear hunt in the Northeast.

“Fortunately, another tragedy was avoided after a violent bear-human encounter in Connecticut. Let us not forget that a young child survived a black bear attack in his grandparents’ backyard in Morris in 2022. Recently, a black bear made its way to Westfarms mall in Farmington along a major commercial corridor. How many more incidents like these must happen before the Democrat majority in Hartford decides to join with Republicans in enacting solutions to address the overpopulation of black bears, including a bear hunt? ”State Sen. Eric Berthel, R-Bethel, said in a statement to the Courant.

“Since I was elected to the House in 2014, and to the Senate in 2017, you would be shocked at the number of similar bills, either by me or Republicans, that have been ignored or rejected. This past session, Democrats stripped a provision I supported that would have allowed a bear-hunting season to address the overpopulation problem — a practice common in neighboring states. Their position is that bear hunts do not work and that it’s up to us as citizens to avoid attracting bears with bird feeders and trash cans. If this were true, why do these incidents keep happening? I continue to call on my colleagues across the aisle to join me in addressing this issue and prevent a tragedy in our state,” he said.

Berthel, who represents several rural towns in the southwest corner of the state, has tried for years unsuccessfully to pass legislation authorizing a bear hunt. State Senate Bill No. 54, introduced by Berthel at the start of the legislative session in January, would have allowed for a limited bear hunting season in Litchfield County, but the bill failed to find support and died in the Environment Committee, according to Berthel.

Another bill that would have authorized Gov. Ned Lamont to enact a bear huntin Connecticut based on a future recommendation from DEEP also died on the Senate calendar earlier this month. Several other attempts to introduce a limited bear hunt season have also met with similar failure.

“There’s strong bipartisan support at the State Capitol for better bear management, and each year that support grows. I see it as a public safety issue. The North Canaan incident could have been a tragedy,” said Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, a ranking senator on the environment committee. Harding represents the 30th Senate District that includes the town of North Canaan where the bear attack occurred on Monday.

“Connecticut remains one of a very small number of states that does not allow any bear hunting, even as the bear population grows and human encounters increase year after year. Maybe 2026 is the year something gets done. I hope so,” he said.

The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, one of the largest nonprofit organizations dedicated to hunters, anglers, recreational shooting and trapping, said that they are in support of a bear hunt in the state. The advocacy group submitted testimony earlier this year in favor of a bear hunt to lawmakers in Hartford.

“The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation supports the regulated harvest of black bears in Connecticut. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection should be granted the authority to utilize scientifically-proven management techniques, including hunting, to address problematic areas of heightened human-bear conflicts by instituting a regulated harvest,” said Christian Ragosta, CSF spokesperson and assistant manager for the northeast, in a statement to the Courant.

“Nearby states have found great success in utilizing hunting to ensureappropriately balanced and robust black bear populations, and reports fromwildlife agencies such as Vermont Fish and Wildlife, maintain hunting as auseful tool in managing populations, and potentially also making black bearsmore wary of humans,” Ragosta said.

But despite a bear hunt remaining elusive, several new bear-related laws were enacted in Connecticut in 2023. Intentional feeding of bears is now prohibited, and farmers may seek permits to address excessive bear damage to crops or livestock. Since DEEP introduced the program last summer, 15 bears have been removed or legally permitted to be killed, according to the annual report.

Under Connecticut law, you can kill a bear in self-defense if you reasonably believe it is about to cause serious harm to you or someone else, or if it is entering a building occupied by people. You may also kill a bear if it is injuring or killing your pet. Any bear killed must be reported to DEEP and the incident will be investigated, officials said.

“If current statistics are accurate and the bear population is growing and creating more bear vs human interactions, then it is almost certain that more frequent and severe attacks will happen. I do not think that a bear hunt, or any legislation, will stop negative conflicts with wildlife, but I do feel that the state government should do what it can to mitigate potential future problems,” said State Sen. Rick Lopes, D-Farmington, a ranking member on the environment committee.

“A bear hunt should decrease the population in our state and this is one tool that we can enact to help protect residents of the state. I do not think it will solve bear conflict problems, but it is a move that is within our power and could potentially help,” he said.

Advocacy groups including The Connecticut Coalition to Protect Bears, which formed in 2021, maintain that a bear hunt will not help solve minimizing these kinds of interactions. The coalition consists of several animal rights groups including Friends of Animals, Sierra Club Connecticut, Votes for Animals, The Humane Society, CT League of Conservation Voters, CT Wildlife Rehabilitators Association, Keep the Woods and the Center for Biological Diversity,

“Researchers in other states like Wisconsin have found that hunts do not reduce nuisance complaints. That’s because a hunt wouldn’t target bears visiting residential areas, as shooting restrictions that close to dwellings are numerous. A hunt would just satisfy CT DEEP’s hunter clients, but it’s dishonest for the agency to promise that it would prevent bears from being habituated,” said Nicole Rivard of Friends of Animals.

“The truth is success in preventing bears from snooping around our neighborhoods and losing their wariness of people depends on changing human behavior. A cruel, random, trophy bear hunt will never stop bears from being curious, opportunistic feeders. That’s why what is needed is statewide legislation that includes a conflict reduction community grant program that provides money to communities for bear resistant trash cans and electric fencing around chickens and beehives. And birdfeeders should be prohibited between March and November for residents who live where bears live,” Rivard said.

Susan Masino, a professor of applied science at Trinity College and advocate with the Coalition, said that the incident was most likely caused by the dog not being on a leash. She said that calling the incident an “attack” is misguided.

“Calling it an attack makes it sound unprovoked. Dogs that are off leash and get between a bear and their escape route, their food, or their cubs will cause this reaction — this was not an unprovoked attack, and hunting bears would not have prevented it. Keeping dogs leashed prevents these problems withbears and protects many species like interior forest birds and many other species that are easily disrupted and disturbed,” Masino said.

As bear conflicts with humans are on the rise across Connecticut, bear self-defense products are popular items in outdoor recreation stores, as many residents plan to hike, camp, hunt and fish in the state this summer. Officials said they first recommend scaring away bears with loud noises through yelling or using whistles or air horns. Scaring a black bear can reinforce its natural fear of people and help keep it from lingering in neighborhoods and other areas where conflicts often arise. Effectively scaring a bear also reinforces the personas dominant in an encounter, so the bear learns to avoid people.

In some cases, DEEP said loud noises are not effective at scaring away bears ,especially ones that have already been habituated. Bears that are in urban areas and less afraid of humans, may not perceive loud noises as a threat. DEEP recommends carrying bear spray to ward off bears that turn aggressive or not be afraid of humans.

“Using bear spray is an effective way to stop an attack by a black bear,” DEEP said in a statement. “CT DEEP advises that if you decide to carry and use bear spray to defend yourself from a bear that you use it responsibly and according to the directions.”

For more information about how to reduce the likelihood of bear conflicts and what to do if you encounter a bear, DEEP recommends The Basics of Living with Black Bears.
Stephen Underwood can be reached at
sunderwood@courant.com.