Crime & Safety

Police Chief: "Don't Feed The Bears"

Bear B-1 wasn't our buddy. She wasn't a cartoon character named Yogi. She was a bear who became habituated to people in Madison and our food. She was killed after she showed aggression in pursuit of our food.

 

Madison Police Chief Jack Drumm had this to say about bears Tuesday:

"Don't feed them. Don't encourage them," said Drumm, who added he was sad to hear that the female yearling tagged as B-1, after becoming used to humans and eating food sources from and near humans, was deemed aggressive by state wildlife experts, and had to be killed.

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Drumm added that a published report in a regional newspaper implying that Madison police characterized the bear's recent behavior as a "reign of terror," was not accurate. The full text of the Madison Police Department's statement about the bear's capture is posted with this article. "We did not make that statement," about a reign of terror, Drumm said.

Concern about B-1's behavior, grief and anger about her death

Find out what's happening in Madisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

. Bear B-1 was captured, tranquilized, and then shot Sunday by the state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.

After being born in central Connecticut about a year and a half ago, she spent the last few months traveling along interior portions of the shoreline that were wooded, from Clinton to Guilford. She settled in North Madison recently and began to exhibit aggressive behavior towards humans when she was seeking food sources from and near humans.

She charged one homeowner who was working inside his home near a window, even though there was no food immediately nearby. She growled at someone taking out their garbage, and she chased someone who tried to get her to go away by honking his car horn.

Nicknamed Yogi, eating pineapple, while a human tries to chat her up

YouTube videos posted of Bear B-1 in North Madison show people talking at the bear while she was eating, including one clip that showed a man talking at the bear while she was eating some pineapple on what appears to be the border of someone's lawn in a residential area. In several of the clips posted on YouTube, people call Bear B-1  "buddy," make kissing sounds toward it, and say that she had been nicknamed Yogi by some North Madison residents. Yogi is a fictional cartoon character bear who claimed to be "smarter than the average bear."

"How's that pineapple, buddy? How's that pineapple?" the man taking the YouTube video says. The bear then rushes at the man taking the video, covering the ground between them in seconds. The man starts to swear and retreats into what appears to be his car.

The video was uploaded about six days ago by someone who identifies himself as a 35-year-old man going by the nickname "Ali Cat" on YouTube.

Not Yogi, just an average bear until she got used to human food

"To try to talk with the bear, to try to befriend the bear, to act as if the bear is a cartoon character, no, people should not be doing this," said Paul Rego, a wildlife biologist with the state of Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection.

DEEP had also received unconfirmed reports that at least one resident had been intentionally feeding the bear. DEEP officials have said that when a bear is intentionally or unintentionally fed, it begins to associate food with people and loses its fear of humans. In addition to becoming habituated to humans, Bear B-1 also showed aggression towards humans, which led to the decision by state wildlife officials that she had to be euthanized.

Rego said that, in the fall, bears need more food than ever as they prepare for hibernation. "This is definitely a time of year when they are focused on eating," he said.

Stay away from bears, do not interact with them, make sure they are not finding food nearby

Rego said he was aware of the fact that many in North Madison had been taking pictures of the bear and documenting her movements. He said as long as people stay a long way away from bears and do not interact with them, he did not take issue with that.

"I think what's more important is whether the bear is finding food near homes, and particularly whether it's finding human-provided food like bird feed and trash," he said.

When people talk with a bear while it is feeding, that poses a conflict for the bear, he said, most of whom are normally shy of humans and the sound of humans.

Sometimes desire for food is greater than their fear of humans

"It's kind of like the bear is being pulled in two directions," he said. "Naturally, bears don't want to go anywhere near people, and naturally they are really focused on finding food. So when they find food and there happens to be a disturbance nearby, sometimes their desire for food is great enough that they will ignore that there are people nearby. And the process can continue until bears are quite habituated towards people and they don't have a fear of people like they should."

So if a bear is nearby and eating trash, should people try to scare it away?

Rego said if scaring the bear away by talking or making a loud noise works quickly, that's fine. But if talking at the bear doesn't work quickly, it's best to wait until the bear leaves and then make sure that whatever was attracting the bear is removed.

But, again, he said don't try to make friends with the bear or make the mistake of thinking it's a harmless cartoon character.

"The worst thing you can do is feed them"

"It's the worst thing you can do," said CT DEEP spokesman Dwayne Gardner, about feeding bears. "If you love bears, if you love wildlife, the worst thing you can do is feed them. It only will end up costing them in the end."

Rego said that the state DEEP handles a dozen or more bears each year that become a nuisance, but that are not aggressive towards humans. If they are a nuisance and are not showing aggression, they are considered potential candidates for aversive conditioning, in which their natural fear of humans is reinforced after they are trapped and released nearby.

Rego and other state officials said it is not possible and not prudent to capture a bear and release it far away from its indigenous habitat. He said the small size of Connecticut, along with its high population density, means that state wildlife officials have only limited options when dealing with a problem bear that is aggressive towards humans in pursuit of food.

Not allowed to move bears to other states, zoos have enough bears

"We are not allowed to move bears to other states," he said. "And, if a bear does have some sort of problem behavior, moving it a long distance and putting it in someone else's backyard does not make sense. Associated with that, it's very common for bears to return to the neighborhood from where they are taken."

And putting problem bears in zoos is generally not an option either, he said.

"The zoos have enough bears," Rego said.

Still sedated when shot

Rego said he was not present when the bear was euthanized over the weekend, but he said the general practice of the state DEEP is to shoot the bear while it is still tranquilized. Bear B-1 was trapped in a tube trap on Sunday evening, tranquilized, and taken to Burlington, CT, where she was shot. State officials said a necropsy would be done to determine the bear's characteristics and health at the time of her death.

"I believe it was" still sedated when shot, Rego said.

"I would also make the point that every year we handle dozens of bears associated with some type of conflict with humans," Rego said. "It's very rare that bears have done something that we deem them such a public safety conflict that a bear has to be put down. We do regularly handle bears and we do capture and release bears. It is very rare that one is killed."

"This bear was aggressive"

"We put a lot of effort into aversive conditioning, where we trap bears and during the release process we basically try to re-instill the fear of humans hoping it changes their behavior and saves them from being euthanized."

"It was judged that this bear showed aggression towards humans," he said. "Some people disagree. But, for any person that has experience and knowledge of bears, this bear was aggressive. I don't believe that anybody who has responsibility for bears would feel comfortable releasing this bear back into an area where people are, and that's all of Connecticut."

"I can't imagine any neighborhood, any community, or any town officials who would be willing to have that bear released in their town."

Here is a release from the CT DEEP about Connecticut bears:

The bear population in Connecticut continues to grow and expand.

The population is currently estimated at approximately 500 bears, increasing the need for people to know how to prevent problems.  In 2011, the DEEP received nearly 3,000 bear sighting reports from 122 of Connecticut’s 169 towns.

The DEEP encourages residents to take the following simple steps to avoid problems with black bears:

  • NEVER feed bears.
  • Take down, clean, and put away birdfeeders by late March.  Store the feeders until late fall.
  • Clean up spilled seed from the ground.
  • Store garbage in secure, airtight containers inside a garage or storage area.  Double bagging and adding ammonia to cans and bags will reduce odors that attract bears.  Periodically clean garbage cans with ammonia to reduce residual odor.  Garbage for pickup should be put outside the morning of collection and not the night before.
  • Avoid leaving pet food outdoors at night.
  • Keep barbecue grills clean. Store grills inside a garage or shed.
  • Avoid placing meat scraps or sweet foods in compost piles.
  • Protect beehives, livestock, and berry bushes from bears with electric fencing.
  • Supervise dogs at all times when outside.  Keep dogs on a leash when walking and hiking.  A roaming dog might be perceived as a threat to a bear or its cubs.

 


It is important to remember that although black bears regularly travel near houses, they are rarely aggressive toward humans and can usually be frightened away by making loud noises, throwing sticks, or spraying with a garden hose.  In the rare instance when a bear appears to be aggressive toward people, residents should contact the DEEP Wildlife Division’s Sessions Woods office at

860-675-8130 (Mon.-Fri. from 8:30 AM-4:30 PM) or the DEEP’s 24-hour dispatch line (860-424-3333) during weekends and non-business hours.

Bear sightings reported by the public provide valuable information to assist the DEEP Wildlife Division in monitoring the black bear population.  Anyone who observes a black bear in Connecticut is encouraged to report the sighting on the DEEP’s Web site.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.