NJ 2008 Bear Incidents Up, Alarmingly

[apmaurosr]

This information is intended for educational purposes.

New Jersey "BEAR ACTIVITY REPORT:"
For the period January 1, 2008 through April 20, 2008 versus same period in 2007.

Category I Bear incidents are up a whopping 314.3% this year over the same period last year (January 1 -April 20.) Category 1 contains the most severe incidents. Increases were seen in the categories; Attempted Home Entry, Home Entry, Livestock Kills, Aggressive behavior, Vehicle Entry, and Rabbit Attacks. A total incident report in category I (one) is 29 in 2008 versus 7 in 2007.

Category II Bear incidents have also increased a stunning 177.4%. Property Damage, Nuisance and Garbage incidents were the categories that contained the complaints. A total incident report in category II (two) is 172 in 2008 versus 62 in 2007.

Even Category III complaints (Bird Feeder damage, Sightings and Vehicle Strikes) are up 46.3% from prior year (79 incidents in 2008 versus 54 incidents in 2007.)

These figures do NOT include incidents reported to police departments without assistance from the DEP.

These incidents are NOT restricted to one or two areas of New Jersey or a hand-full of people. The above complaints include the counties that reported activity, which were: Sussex, Ocean, Warren, Morris, Somerset, Passaic, and Hunterdon.

As the population of bears continues to increase in NJ, unrestricted by any method of population control, so too do the risks to humans and pets.

This information is taken from publicly disclosed documents. Although black bear attacks on humans are infrequent there are a reported 52 known fatal black bear attacks in North America during the last 100 years.

Ant
Anthony P. Mauro, Sr.
Chairman, NJOA

[J_Lannon]

Black bears are USUALLY a very timid animal. They only time they will ever attack a human is to defend thier cubs, or some one gets in the way of thier food........ or the person gets startled and starts screaming.

If you run into one , dont freak out !...... Just walk away,............ and keep walking.

Black bears have been a problem in Oxford County Maine more than a few times. We have had population explosions, and attacks on humans were almost non existent.

They will tear up some chit though. I have seen them tear apart refridgerators, garbage cans, mulch bins etc. etc.

They can be great fun to watch from a distance. I think my favorate bear memory is when I saw a mother and cub play with a unattended garden hose................our stomachs were killing us all from laughing so hard.

It is getting harder for them to stay away from people with the forests being cut away for development.

[rattler]

what do you expect...males ranging for mates when we have cut down the forest...they have to travel and we sre in the way...just nature...

[bowhunter81]

Anybody remember several years ago it was legal to hunt bear in nj? Then the eco nazis arrived and we lost another battle. Same as mt lions in Ca. Stop the huntin, loose their fear of humans, people are easy prey, start gettn eatn!

[apmaurosr]

Well, perhaps I wasn't clear when making my point. As the population of bears continues to increase in NJ, unrestricted by any method of population control, so too do the risks to humans and pets.

What we have is a burgeoning bear population, increasingly coming into contact with humans. This is documented in the increase in bear incidents this year.

The increase in human/bear contact, and the more congested human/bear living quarters adds "stress" to both humans and bears. Animals, like humans, become "less predictable" when under stress. The fact that there are 52 human fatalities is proof that bears will attack humans.

Add the fact that black bears are know to attack humans, along with the "stress" of cramped living arrangements between bears and humans and you have a formula for a tragedy.

I am fortunate in that I don't live in one of the counties mentioned, so my family is not being put at risk by the state in order to advance a political agenda.

Having a child playing in a yard near where there are 10 bears feeding (yes, the DFW has reported such findings) is one of the concerns as I see it. The citizens of NJ should not have to fear putting out their garbage or letting their kids play safely in their back yard - or flee their home because bears are breaking in (yes, there were 5 attempted entries, 4 acutual home entries, and one where the bear caused the home owner to flee his home through a window.)

The other issue is having a bear policy that manages the bear population with respect to the available habitat and interactions with humans. It's called "conservation." For nearly 100 years conservation has been the basis for hunting, fishing and trapping in America with notable success. Why is NJ abdicating science for politics?
Ant

[J_Lannon]

Well, perhaps I wasn't clear when making my point. As the population of bears continues to increase in NJ, unrestricted by any method of population control, so too do the risks to humans and pets.

What we have is a burgeoning bear population, increasingly coming into contact with humans. This is documented in the increase in bear incidents this year.

The increase in human/bear contact, and the more congested human/bear living quarters adds "stress" to both humans and bears. Animals, like humans, become "less predictable" when under stress. The fact that there are 52 human fatalities is proof that bears will attack humans.

Add the fact that black bears are know to attack humans, along with the "stress" of cramped living arrangements between bears and humans and you have a formula for a tragedy.

I am fortunate in that I don't live in one of the counties mentioned, so my family is not being put at risk by the state in order to advance a political agenda.

Having a child playing in a yard near where there are 10 bears feeding (yes, the DFW has reported such findings) is one of the concerns as I see it. The citizens of NJ should not have to fear putting out their garbage or letting their kids play safely in their back yard - or flee their home because bears are breaking in (yes, there were 5 attempted entries, 4 acutual home entries, and one where the bear caused the home owner to flee his home through a window.)

The other issue is having a bear policy that manages the bear population with respect to the available habitat and interactions with humans. It's called "conservation." For nearly 100 years conservation has been the basis for hunting, fishing and trapping in America with notable success. Why is NJ abdicating science for politics?
Ant


Where did you pull the number of 52 fatalities?

[rattler]

over the last 200 years? auto accidents?...I want to know where APMAUROSR gets his information...