Black Bear Bill Debate: Hunters Lose and Advocates Win

March 24, 2023

I want to share my gratitude to those of you who came together on March 10 to stand up against a proposed bear hunting measure. Two weeks later, language was dropped from Senate Bill 1148, which would have paved the way for killing bears.

I invite you to watch my colleagues comment on the measure by clicking on the image below. I provide my own testimony three hours and 50 minutes into the committee hearing.

Bill to allow limited bear hunting in Connecticut has been dropped.

As co-chair of the CT Animal Advocacy Caucus, I can only express disappointment in the way the bill is presented. According to experts, hunting in the wild will not fix the issue of habituated bears. Hunting certainly is not safe in residential areas, where most interactions take place. DEEP has unfortunately been pushing for hunting for many years, which is concerning.

“To suggest hunting as a solution to human-bear conflicts is wrongheaded and irresponsible because it won’t work,” said Annie Hornish, CT State Director for The Humane Society of the United States.

“Killing bears doesn’t work, and the proposal fails the people of Connecticut and its native bear population,” said Jo-Anne Basile, Executive Director of CT Votes for Animals and a member of the Coalition. “Without a robust and effective program of education and Bear Smart deterrents, such as bear-resistant trash cans, you will never resolve bears showing up in your backyard, no matter how many you kill.”

Instead, my fellow CT Animal Advocacy Caucus co-chair Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, and I support the intents of House Bill 5160, which includes a conflict-reduction community grant program that provides funding to communities for bear-resistant trash cans and electric fencing around chickens and beehives. The bill would also ban anyone from intentionally or unintentionally feeding black bears, establish bear cub rehabilitation guidelines, and start a system where farms will be compensated for damage caused by bears.

“As humans, we have the ability to quickly change our behavior when it causes conflict with others and it's important that we make certain state law provides the proper balance to protect wildlife while also preventing human-animal encounters," said Rep. Klarides-Ditria. “I encourage my colleagues to support House Bill 5160 because it strikes that delicate balance by providing protections for wildlife, education for Connecticut homeowners, rehabilitation guidelines and new orphaned cub management protocols. It also empowers DEEP to use non-lethal management techniques. These commonsense, non-lethal methods are humane, effective, and proven.”

The CT Coalition to Protect Bears was formed by leading animal and environmental advocacy groups because of misleading information circulating about black bears in Connecticut, including that they need to be managed with a bear hunt. You can download the new report here on “The Truth About CT’s Black Bears.”
 
DEEP’s last bear population study that was made public in 2016. Since that time, the agency has failed to use this data to help local town managers anticipate areas of possible bear habitat. DEEP publishes its estimate of the number of bears in our state using the number of bear sightings. I believe it’s time education and science become tools in their Wildlife Division toolbox.

“Studies have shown time and again that it is food availability, not bear population numbers, that cause negative human-bear interactions,” said the CT Coalition to Protect Black Bears.