CT DEEP: Bear euthanized after it bit woman in Avon

Submitted release

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (“DEEP”) Environmental Conservation Police, along with DEEP wildlife biologists and officers from the Avon Police Department, responded to a black bear attack that occurred in the town of Avon on the morning of Friday, April 21.

A 74-year-old woman was walking her dog on leash early this morning along Berkshire Crossing Road when a female black bear approached her and bit her. The woman received non-life-threatening injuries and was transported by EMS personnel to a local hospital.

In these situations, public safety is DEEP’s top priority. Under DEEP’s Black Bear Response protocol, an attack on a human is a category 4 response, meaning humane euthanization of the bear. The bear was humanely euthanized at the scene. It is DEEP's policy to manage the black bear population to maximize ecological, economic, and cultural benefits while providing for public safety and property protection. If anyone witnessed the incident this morning, we ask that they contact our 24-hour dispatch center at (860) 424-3333.

DEEP has provided information on Connecticut’s black bear population and how the public can keep themselves and our bear population safe; see Frequently Asked Questions About Black Bears (ct.gov). As noted in DEEP’s State of the Bears Report issued earlier this year, conflicts between humans and bears are continuing to rise, and that trend is continuing this year. This week alone, DEEP responded to multiple reports of bear-home entries and had to euthanize a bear in Salisbury that had entered multiple homes.