A juvenile bear caught the attention of residents in Hartford’s West End on Thursday as it perched high in a tree, observing the curious onlookers below.
The bear was spotted in a tree along Farmington Avenue, near the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center and the Mark Twain House.
Connecticut is home to an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 bears, and sightings have been reported in all towns and cities across the state.
One Hartford resident recounted, “Some neighbors noticed around 1:30, and some of our staff went out to see. He was in a very tall tree right near the Immanuel Congregational Church on Farmington Avenue. He seemed a little sleepy and itchy.”
According to “The State of the Bears,” a publication by the state, females with offspring have been sighted in 117 towns over the last three years, with 80 sightings reported in 2023 alone.
Officials from the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection dispatched EnCon Police to the scene, while Hartford police reminded the public that bears are a common presence in the state.
The DEEP highlights the increasing frequency of black bear sightings in Connecticut and advises residents to familiarize themselves with bear safety protocols to reduce the likelihood of encounters and know how to respond if they encounter a bear.
In recent years, there have been negative interactions between humans and bears in Connecticut, including incidents where bears have attacked humans or caused property damage.
To address such situations, Connecticut passed a law allowing people to request permits to take bears if they are causing damage to agricultural crops, livestock, or apiaries, and non-lethal measures are ineffective. The law also prohibits intentional feeding of bears and permits the use of deadly force in certain circumstances to defend against bear attacks.
