Unhealthy looking CT black bear euthanized after “making contact” with woman

A black bear was euthanized after police said it “made contact” with a woman sitting in her backyard, according to officials .

Cheshire police were called to a property on Oak Avenue on Saturday for a report that a “slow moving” bear approached and made contact with a woman sitting in her backyard. The incident was turned over to environmental conservation officers with the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection around 4 p.m.

Police said the woman is safe and declined medical treatment.

After making contact with the woman, the bear then walked into the woods between 475 Oak Ave. and Watch Hill Road, according to police. Upon arrival, EnCon officers searched the woods and euthanized the bear. Police said the bear did not appear to be healthy.

The bear has been turned over to DEEP biologists for further testing.

Other bears in Connecticut also have been put down to date this year.

There are between 1,000 and 1,200 bears in Connecticut and they have been sighted in every town and city, according to “ The State of the Bears ,” a DEEP publication, downloadable online. One wandered around a very populated area of West Hartford last week, according to multiple reports.

In the last three years, females with offspring have been seen in 117 towns, 80 in just 2023.

DEEP has said residents that killing a bear in self-defense or in defense of others should “only occur in situations of imminent danger. Further, according to the agency, any such killing must be reported to DEEP, law enforcement will investigate, and if it is “deemed not justified under the law, it may be a prosecutable offense.”

The agency says situations of “imminent danger” occur if a person “reasonably believes” that a bear is:

• Inflicting or is about to inflict great bodily harm to a human;
• Injuring or killing one’s pet that is otherwise controlled in accordance with any applicable provision of the general statutes or other such regulation; or
• Is entering a building occupied by people.

Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com