CT Black Bear And Her Baby Rip Apart Car After Being Trapped Inside

WINSTED, CT — A black bear and her baby broke into a car and destroyed the interior after becoming trapped inside near a Connecticut home last week, according to officials.

State environmental conservation police said they received a call from the startled car owner in Winsted July 15 and responded to find the horn blaring and the radio blasting with a second cub running around nearby.

"They opened a door, and the two bears ran off into the woods safe and sound with the third bear," officials said. "The car's interior, however, wasn't so fortunate: It was completely torn apart."

Officials believe the bears got into the car by opening the door, but it's not clear how the door then closed.

The car's owner snapped a series of photos of the bears in the car, as well as the messy aftermath.

Over a week, there have been three episodes involving bears in Connecticut that were publicly reported by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection — another sign of the increasing black bear population in the state.

On Saturday, a woman reported being bitten by a black bear in a backyard in Cheshire. She suffered minor injuries and declined treatment, officials said. Environmental conservation police found and euthanized the bear, which was taken away for testing.

On Sunday, a nearly 500-pound black bear was struck and killed by a car on a highway in Torrington, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said.

See related: Bear Family Barges Into Home

• Bear Euthanized After Biting Woman: Reports
• Man Shoots Bear In Self Defense

While bears have been breaking into cars, trash bins and homes in the western U.S. for a long time, such incidents were rare in Connecticut a few decades ago. They're now a growing phenomenon.

In June, a black bear was shot to death in Canton by a person who claimed self-defense. Last year, a bear barged into a bakery in Avon, scared employees and helped itself to 60 cupcakes before ambling away. In 2022, a bear damaged the insides of two vehicles in Cornwall.

There also have been a few non-fatal bear attacks on humans reported in the state over the past two years, and an increasing number of bears entering homes, state officials say.

"Always keep your car doors locked if bears occur in your area and never allow them easy access to human-sourced food," Ethan Van Ness, a senior adviser at the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, said in a statement.

State officials said bears began returning to the region in the 1980s and their populations have been steadily increasing. There are now an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 bears in Connecticut, with sightings in all 169 towns in recent years but more concentrated in the state's northwestern corner.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.