Wildlife staff from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection in Connecticut are hunting a black bear that approaching a hiker on 28 August.
Stephanie Rivkin was out walking in the woods when two young black bears began following her. She filmed the encounter and put the video on Facebook with the headline Walking with bears. It put its mouth on my leg [sic].
Rivkin stayed calm during the unusual meeting and managed to escaped unhurt. She has told NBC Connecticut that the bears should not be harmed. I hope the bears maybe can be moved to a safer area where theyre not putting hikers in danger, she said.
However, wildlife staff are planning to euthanise the bear, which was tagged last winter, as his lack of fear of humans is very unusual and dangerous.
According to wildlife biologist Jason Hawley the bear has a history of aggressive behaviour and has been relocated before: If you look at the actual body language of the bear, the bear is actually circling her. Whenever she turns her back on the bear, it actually rushes her.
He also told NBC: We know that this bear is a potential threat to public safety, so theres no question that we need to remove this bear from the population.
Rivkin has stated on Facebook that she had to face several negative comments because people blamed her for reporting the bears: I had a scary yet magical encounter and now people are sending me hate messages and death threats.
Hiking trails in the Burlington area of Connecticut have been closed as a precaution until the bear is found.
