2 weeks Ago
In their zeal to launch a bear hunt, some Connecticut legislators are in a rush to judgment—fueled by wishful thinking—that doesn’t serve the interests of our citizens or our communities. In the meantime, the Department of Environmental Energy and Protection lags behind in implementing a robust bear conflict prevention program that works. A bear hunt doesn’t belong in our toolkit, and it won’t resolve conflicts, mainly because bear hunters will be padding through the woods, not guarding backyard bird feeders.
If we adopt a hunting season, it will bring mayhem and chaos with no return and no end. Consider DEEP’s own State of the Bears 2025 report, which pinpoints “easy access to human-sourced food” as a primary driver of human-bear conflicts and notes that “The vast majority of the public’s bear-related issues stem from birdfeeders and trash.” In other words, the road to lasting solutions rests more with us than with bears.
DEEP’s report underscores the weakness of the state’s commitment to public outreach to minimize problem encounters with bears. DEEP spends a mere $100,000 on bear-awareness programs, and while that’s nice, building out awareness is simply not enough. To ensure public safety and minimize the frequency of human-bear conflict, we should spend and do more to equip our citizens with the knowledge and guidance needed to co-exist with bears.
Measures that have made a difference in communities around the country include bear-resistant trash cans, removal of bird feeders during the spring through fall months, and electric fencing for chicken coops and beehives. If we’re earnest in the pursuit of deterrence and safety, we don’t need to target bears. We need to harden the soft targets in our communities—our homes, garages, outbuildings and other locations.
It’s worth noting in this regard that of the 10 bills introduced in this session to open the state up to bear hunting in some form (eight of which have already been rejected), not a single one proposed to increase funding on bear-awareness initiatives. Imagine if the state adopted a comprehensive bear coexistence program of the kind that exists in some communities around the country, with subsidies to municipalities located in the northwest corner of Connecticut to help residents and businesses make their trash containers and dumpsters bear-resistant. Connecticut is not like any of the states in which bear hunts occur.
That’s precisely why the antiquated North American wildlife management model championed by DEEP and some hunting groups is unsuited to our needs. An appreciation for wildlife and a desire to avoid the disruptive violence of a hunting season shape the social, cultural and political context of human-wildlife coexistence debates in our state, to a degree that is unmatched among our neighbors. Connecticut citizens are not just skeptical of bear hunting as a conflict reduction strategy; they simply don’t want it.
Let’s not forget that Connecticut already provides for permits that authorize the killing of bears on the grounds of nuisance and legitimate self-defense or the defense of others. A seasonal hunt would not be an instrument of public safety; it would be a sop to trophy hunters. If it’s public safety we’re seeking, we need thoughtful and engaged leadership and a greater commitment to public education and cooperation between DEEP and municipalities in the implementation of comprehensive approaches that are humane, effective, and science-based.
Across the entire Northeast, the habitat that supports bears continues to improve even as human development increases. We can’t kill or relocate our way out of our dilemma. We need to forge a new and more nuanced approach that is better suited to our mid-21st century needs and values.
To reach that goal, it is essential that DEEP and our elected officials at all levels step up their game, by abandoning the stale and futile paradigm of seasonal bear hunts in favor of a strategy much better weighted toward coexistence. Annie Hornish, Connecticut State Director, State Affairs, Humane World for Animals..
