Bear kills 5 Nigerian dwarf goats after climbing fence at farm
BURLINGTON — A local farm is mourning the loss of five goats to a bear, according to its Facebook page.
Grazin’ Goats Farm, in Burlington, raises Nigerian dwarf goats as part of a school project, the farm’s owners posted.
The farm reported early Monday that a bear had climbed over the six-foot-high kennels and killed five goats named Inky, Ginger, Stitch, Junior and Frost.
“It is with a heavy heart that I post this,” the Facebook page said. “Yesterday we suffered a devastating loss.”
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is investigating and working to trap the bear, the farm said.
In the meantime, the family said they aren’t sure what the future holds since one of the goats lost was a beloved show goat.
Lee Sawyer, a DEEP spokesman, said the bear was “doing what bears do,” and the goat attack “is not an indication this bear is a danger to people.”
If the bear is caught, the state will use aversion techniques to scare it away from the area.
There have been other incidents in which bears have attacked farm animals in Connecticut.
Last October, a Prospect man shot a bear that got into a goat pen.
Prospect police said “His wife had woken him after hearing a commotion in the goat pen. The homeowner ran outside, heard the goat screaming and saw the bear attacking the goat The homeowner, in an effort to protect his livestock, shot his shotgun in the direction of the bear, causing the bear to run into the woods.
The goat sustained severe injuries and later died.
In November 2017, a small female black bear was killed after it attacked two miniature horses on a Southbury farm. The bear killed one of the horses before environmental police were able to euthanize the animal, which weighed around 150 pounds.
In June 2017, a male black bear weighing more than 500 pounds was killed by the caretaker of a Kent farm three weeks after one of the farm’s pet donkeys was killed and several others injured by a bear.
According to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the town of Burlington — a Hartford County town that borders Harwinton — has one of the highest number of bear sightings in the state.
In the period from May 1, 2018 to April 14, a total of 273 bears have been reported.
The number of reported bear sightings in Connecticut in 2018 increased significantly from the previous year, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
The most recent figures from DEEP of bear sightings cover the period from Jan. 8, 2018 to Dec. 12,
2018.
It shows a total of 8,937 reported sightings — an increase of more
1,200 from the 7,674 sightings in 2017.