Canton, Connecticut, authorities are investigating the shooting of a 450-pound black bear on Monday. The shooter claims the killing was an act of self-defense. The bear was reportedly spotted feeding at an unsecured dumpster when the incident occurred. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Environmental and Conservation Police officers are leading the investigation.
This shooting comes a year after the General Assembly in Connecticut passed legislation allowing the use of deadly force to kill a bear if it poses a threat of great bodily harm to a person, a pet, or is entering an occupied building. Some state legislators had hoped for additional measures such as a bear hunt and restrictions on feeding the animals to address the increase in human-bear interactions in the state.
Paul Copleman, a spokesperson for the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, mentioned that conservation police are looking into whether this incident marks the first time someone has claimed self-defense in killing a bear since the law was enacted. Black bear sightings have been on the rise throughout Connecticut in recent years, with reports in 165 of the state’s 169 cities and towns in 2023.
Canton, a community of about 10,000 people located approximately 13 miles northwest of Hartford, has seen over 200 bear sightings last year. During a live news report by WFSB-TV, another black bear was spotted checking out the same row of dumpsters later in the evening before returning to the woods. Authorities continue to monitor the situation and investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting, taking into account both the shooter’s claims and the laws governing bear encounters in the state.