Isabella Bullock ’19

Black bear hunting has always been illegal in the state of Connecticut, but due to a recent increase in the black bear population, officials are considering legalizing it.
According to The Hartford Courant, there are over 700 black bears in Connecticut today, with a rising population of 10 percent each year.

Julie Raigosa ’19 said her family spotted a black bear at her mother’s house in Avon, Connecticut. “My mom walked outside and saw it [the bear] across the yard aimlessly walking around,” Raigosa said.

The areas with the most bear sightings have been in northern Connecticut, along the Massachusetts border. Bear hunting is legal in Massachusetts, and those who are pro-hunting believe the bears fear the people there, whereas in Connecticut, the humans fear the bears.

Those who are against black bear hunting believe there is nothing that could be gained by creating a hunting season, but there are many drawbacks. “Certainly the death of one or two bears is not going to necessarily affect an entire ecosystem,” environmental teacher Christine Kaszanek said. “[But] if there was a spike in bear hunting, and we started killing off a lot of the black bear population in Connecticut, it could certainly affect a lot of other organisms and disrupt the ecosystem and biodiversity in the area.”

Those who are for black bear hunting believe something very different, and that by hunting black bears, it will make for a healthier environment.

Travis Gaffey, owner of Bear Essentials Firearms in Granby, Connecticut, believes that by manipulating the food web it will help the rest of the organisms, because if not manipulated, the population could become more out of hand than it already is. “The deer population is being hurt because bears are starting to kill fawns for food,” Gaffey said. “What’s happening is the animals are running out of natural food, and with population control, i.e. hunting […] it helps keep animals healthy.”

Kaszanek explained what people could do instead of hunting the bears to regulate the rise in the population. “If people are concerned about it, they should take precautions on their own to not attract the bears to their area,” she said. Kaszanek suggests taking down birdfeeders and leaving out garbage only on garbage days as opposed to the night before.