Controversial bear hunt in New Jersey begins, with another scheduled for December
NEWTON, N.J. -- The controversial black bear hunt is back in New Jersey following a Superior Court judge's ruling that did not favor animal rights groups.
Monday marked the first day of the October hunt. Another is scheduled in December.
Hunters brought the bears they killed to the Whittingham Wildlife Management Area in Newton. One limitation is the bears weighing less than 75 pounds can't be harvested.
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Wildlife officials say the hunt is the most effective way to prevent bear and human encounters in densely populated New Jersey.
"When you have a high-bear density and high-human density you run into a situation where you have a lot of bear-human interactions. Some of those interactions can be negative," said Dave Golden, assistant commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection.
Animal rights groups protesting the bear hunt called it inhumane, saying residents just need to secure their garbage cans.
"I live in bear country. I have lived here for 22 years. The most effective way, nationwide studies show, is keeping bears away from human food sources," said Angi Metler of Animal Protection League New Jersey.
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Golden said educating the public on keeping bears away is part of the state's bear management program, but it hasn't worked.
Former state senator Ray Lesniak's organization is trying to stop December's bear hunt in court.
"We are killing bears when there is no reason to do that. There are half the bears that the Fish and Game Commission say there has been and that's because it's dominated by hunters," Lesniak said.
The state has prevailed in several court challenges and says the Fish and Game Commission bases decisions on scientific data.
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The DEP estimates the bear population in the state to be at more than 3,000 -- a number animal rights groups dispute, saying it's half that.
In 2014, a bear killed a young Rutgers student in New Jersey.
"Certainly, human mortality is unspeakable and we should do bear management to make sure that we're putting everything in place to make sure that never happens again," Golden said.
DEP officials say the hunt will continue through Saturday, but if they hit a 30% harvest rate the hunt will automatically stop. They added, though, that is highly unlikely.
If the hunt doesn't hit a 20% harvest rate in October, the hunt will be extended by four days in December.