The Hartford Courant reported that bear-human interactions are rising in Connecticut.
What's happening?
Officials from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) told the Courant that, in 2025, bears were spotted in every Connecticut city and town, with almost 40 home entries.
Oddly, this is higher than the amount of bear-human interactions in neighboring Massachusetts, though officials don't yet know why. However, bear-human interactions are almost always food-related, according to the DEEP.
To prepare for winter, bears need to consume more calories than usual. Human foods are more calorie-dense than what they'd find in the wild, so they're drawn to them. This comes with consequences.
Jenny Dickson, DEEP wildlife division director, told the Courant, "Bears lose their natural fear of people when they eat food from … human sources, causing them to spend more time in neighborhoods and near people, creating public safety risks and increasing the possibility that the bears may be hit and killed by vehicles.
"Never feed bears," she continued. "Please do your part to keep both bears and people safe."
Why is this trend concerning?
This Connecticut trend reflects a broader change in global human-wildlife interactions. As wildlife continue to lose their habitats to land development and the changing climate, humans and animals are forced to compete for resources, leading to losses on both sides.
According to a World Wildlife Fund report, 121 people were killed by elephants, which frequently raid farms, in Sri Lanka in 2019. This devastates farmers' livelihoods and leads to retaliatory killings. That same year, 405 elephants were killed by people in turn.
This is just one example of this wider trend. To stop the violence on both sides, solutions are needed.
What's being done about it?
The Connecticut DEEP urged people to put their trash in airtight containers, keep barbecue grills clean, and avoid putting out birdfeeders, all of which black bears eat.
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Definitely 👍 Officials suggest planting native plants as an alternative, which naturally feed birds and pollinators alike. These can also increase your area's biodiversity and support wildlife without harming them.
If you'd like to support wildlife without endangering it, you can also consider donating to conservation organizations.
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