The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Bear hunting bill advances
Measure seeks to control population; opponents say ‘coexist’ with wildlife
HARTFORD >> As the number of bear sightings in Connecticut continues to climb, state legislators are looking for ways to curb the population, and environmentalists are unhappy with the proposed solution.
S.B. 522, which would allow for the hunting of black bears in the state, has been voted out of the Environment Committee and is making its way to the Senate floor for consideration.
State Sen. Ted Kennedy, Jr., DBranford, did vote for the bill to move out of committee, but he said that he is not happy with the current language of the measure.
Kennedy said Wednesday that he thinks the public safety threat posed by an increase in the bear population in some parts of the state warrants a discussion about how best to deal with the bear population, even if he is against hunting.
“I just think if I’m being objective here, I have to acknowl-
edge there’s a serious public safety issue in parts of our state,” he said. “I’m worried about the person who may be attacked by a bear.”
“I don’t really like the idea of hunting,” he added. “I’m not in support of the bill as it’s currently written.”
The bear population is increasing in the state by an estimate of 10 percent per year, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Commissioner Rob Klee said in submitted testimony about the bear hunting bill that hunting is an effective form of wildlife management with the right limitations.
“With the growing bear population, reports of nuisance bears and bold and aggressive bear behavior are increasing,” Klee said in his testimony last month. He added that the number of reports of property damage caused by bears reached 960 in 2016 and 43 bears were killed by motor vehicles last year.
Data on the DEEP website shows that six black bear sightings were reported in New Haven between April 6, 2016 and March 6. By contrast, Avon had 536 reports of black bear sightings at that time.
One bear that made it’s way through New Haven in May, dubbed “Boo-Boo,” was successfully tranquilized and moved and released into a wooded area after it was spotted wandering the streets of the East Rock and other neighborhoods.
Some groups have voiced opposition to the hunting bill, including the Humane Society of the United States, an organization that promotes the welfare of all animals. Annie Hornish, the Connecticut senior director of the national nonprofit, said that the state should prioritize educational outreach over “trophy hunting.”
“We feel that this is not the way to address conflicts from bears,” Hornish said Wednesday. “We have to learn to coexist.”
While the number of bear sightings reached approximately 6,700 in the state last year, Hornish said that number has to be taken in context.
“When a bear walks through a neighborhood… that same bear is going to get multiple calls,” she said.
Bears are easily susceptible to over-hunting, she said, and they are a species that does not reproduce quickly enough to rebound quickly.
Maryrose Keenan, a Guilford resident, submitted testimony opposing the bill last month, and argued that removing things that attract bears in people’s yards and driveways — like open trash cans and low hanging bird feeders — would keep them from neighborhoods.
Keenan said other states, such as New Jersey and Florida, have had problems with over-hunting bears and almost wiped out populations.
“With only around 700 bears in the entire state of Connecticut, we need to protect our bears from a similar hunting frenzy and preserve these bears for future generations,” she said.
Friends of Animals, an animal protection group based in Darien, also opposes the bear hunting bill and has argued it’s simply a way for the DEEP to make money off of hunting permits.
According to the bill, hunting bears would only be allowed for those with a permit and license to do so. The number of bears killed by hunters in the first year could not exceed five percent of the current population, under the bill.