The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection on Tuesday euthanized a black bear in Salisbury that broke into a home through a kitchen window. The bear, which weighed around 400 pounds, broke into the home on Monday. When personnel from DEEP’s wildlife division went to the home Tuesday intent on setting up a trap, the homeowner found that the bear was inside the home again.
That’s when the decision was made to euthanize the bear. The bear previously broke into another Salisbury home on Saturday.
Earlier this year lawmakers stripped language from a bill that would have approved a bear hunt lottery in Litchfield County where most of the black bears in the state reside.
According to state environmental officials, human-bear conflicts have more than tripled in the last several years as Connecticut’s black bear population has grown to an estimated count of around 1,100.
But lawmakers on the Environment Committee were not convinced it was necessary. Instead, they forwarded a bill that includes feeding prohibitions to the Senate.
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