This past week, a female hiker came into contact with two young black bears in Woods Wildlife Management Area in Burlington. Instead of leaving the animals alone, she remained close to the bears and coaxed them “not to be scared.” One of the curious bears came up to the hiker, and opened his mouth as if he were to bite her. Understandably, this animal may have been confused as to the presence of a stranger in his habitat and became curious as she continued to interact with him. 

Thankfully, the hiker was not harmed.  However, she did not respect the animals in their habitat.  Hikers are encouraged to never interact with wild animals, and to wave their arms when a bear is near to encourage the animal to leave.  

Any reasonable individual would chastise the hiker for recklessly interacting with wildlife, and move the bears to a more remote area. Instead, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is planning on euthanizing the animal once he is found.

It is high time that we protect the innocent wildlife in our beautiful state that has less and less land to live on as time goes by.  We can not force animals to pay with their lives for the consequences of visitors to their habitat.  

Ask Connecticut DEEP to keep Burlington Bear alive, and to post signs about Bear Safety on trails where bears live.  Share this petition with #KeepBurlingtonBearAlive!