Avon Maintains Top Spot on State Bear Sightings Chart

There were 6,573 reported black bear sightings in Connecticut over the past 12 months, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

The first black bear sightings chart was recently posted for the DEEP's warm weather season and the statistics are from May 17, 2017 to May 3, 2018.

Avon has consistently held the top spot in terms of bear sightings, followed by Farmington. Here are the top 5:

• Avon: 529
• Farmington: 477
• Simsbury: 353
• New Milford: 343
• Burlington 318

The DEEP emphasizes the chart reflects sighting that were actually reported and maintains many are not reported. For example, last September, a bear nearly ran into a Vernon police cruiser before disappearing into a wooded area off state Route 30. The incident was reported to the local animal control department but not to the state.

There are some quirky statistics. For example, Windsor has 119 recorded sightings and neighboring Windsor Locks has 21 on the chart. Stafford with a large downtown area has 32 while neighboring Willington has but seven.

Two towns vastly different populations at opposite ends of the state — Union and Greenwich —both had four recorded sightings on the latest chart.

Click here for the full chart.

Click here to report a bear sighting.

Photo Credit: Paul Fusco/CT DEEP Wildlife Division

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