More NJ Bear Attacks ‘Inevitable’ Under Current Policies: Legislators

SPARTA, NJ — After an 81-year-old Sparta woman was attacked by a bear this past week and her dog killed, county and state legislators in her area are pushing Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration to come up with other solutions to prevent bear attacks like that in the future, saying more are “inevitable.”

As of Friday, state officials continued searching for the bear, classified as a “Category 1." Bears in this category “are trapped and euthanized as soon as possible to protect the public and to eliminate further damage to property and/or agricultural crops,” according to the Department of Environmental Protection. Read more: Bear That Killed Dog, Injured Sparta Woman To Be Euthanized

“Without a safe hunt to control the bear population, we’re going to continue to see more cases of people being hurt or killed,” said Assemblyman Hal Wirths (R-Dist. 24).

In October 2020, Murphy vowed to end the annual bear hunt, stating that New Jersey’s Fish and Game Council had changed the state’s Game Code to end bear hunting after 2021. With those changes made, Murphy said in a statement, his administration would “develop a new black bear policy that keeps public safety at the forefront of our concerns while protecting wildlife in the State.”

“I am grateful to the Fish and Game Council for their commitment to working with the Department of Environmental Protection to address this issue and chart a better way forward,” he also said.

DEP Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe commented in the same news release that the Division of Fish and Wildlife was working with the Fish and Game Council to come up with a policy with “the best available science, engage often with the public, and work to achieve the best balance.”

After the attack, DEP spokesperson Larry Hajna commented in a statement to Patch, “The DEP is saddened by this incident and takes any human/bear encounters very seriously.”

Hajna said Murphy’s administration has allocated $1.5 million in the 2022 budget for “nonlethal strategies to reduce encounters between bears and people.”

“The money is funding the DEP’s new BEAR (Bear Education, Assistance and Response) Management program that will add more biologists, wildlife technicians and conservation police officers to advance public awareness and law enforcement response initiatives,” Hajna also said.

Anthony Fasano, director of the Board of County Commissioners in Sussex County, where the recent bear attack happened, said the policies from Murphy’s administration aren’t sound but instead have “settled on a politically motivated policy that is dangerous and irresponsible.”

According to a New Jersey Herald report, the Fish and Game Council had voted unanimously on an emergency order for another bear hunt this past October with a 60-day time frame — but, as Dist. 24 legislators put it, Murphy “stood in the way.”

"A controlled hunt helps stabilize the bear population and when it was employed it showed it works,” state Sen. Steven Oroho said in a news release after the attack. “So let’s leave the decision to the wildlife management professionals and not to the whims of politicians.”

“Things went bad in a hurry, and that is exactly what can happen when there are too many bears in the wild and they encroach on residential areas in search of food,” Assemblyman Parker Space added, saying the attack could have been much worse. “The Governor’s prohibition on bear hunting is contributing to this growing problem, making more potentially deadly interactions inevitable.”

Around 7 p.m. Monday, the Sparta resident said her dog and a relative's dog charged at a pair of bears after they spotted them by open bags of garbage that she had left outside for Tuesday's trash pickup.

At the sight of the dogs approaching, one bear ran off into the woods, while the other struck the woman's oncoming dog. When she yelled at the bear and tried to steer it from further injuring her dog, it bit and scratched her, said Lt. John Lamon, a spokesperson for the Sparta Police Department. Read more: Bear Kills Dog, Attacks 81-Year-Old Woman In Sparta

After further investigation, the DEP said her scratch was likely from her falling, rather than the bear.

The bear then picked up the hurt dog and carried it near the woods, with the second dog chasing after it.

The Echo Drive resident, who is too distraught over the loss of her English springer spaniel and asked not to be identified, was taken to Newton Medical Center for treatment including stitches to her leg, while responding officers found the dog, which died from its injuries at a veterinary hospital, Lamon said.

The relative's dog was uninjured.

“Wildlife management experts should determine a sound bear policy that can mitigate or prevent similar attacks or worse,” Fasano said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues and our local legislators in making clear that the governor, as he always says, needs to ‘follow the science,’ and provide a real solution to protect residents.”

Indicating that bear attacks on people are very rare, most strategies are non-lethal with handling bears.

Overall, the Division of Fish and Wildlife said "interactions with [bears] must be avoided for public safety and the well-being of the animals."

The DEP provided these steps to reduce the possibility of encountering black bears:

• Never feed or approach a bear.
• Remain calm if you encounter a bear. Do not run from it.
• Make the bear aware of your presence by speaking in an assertive voice, singing, clapping your hands, or making other noises.
• Make sure the bear has an escape route.
• If a bear enters your home, provide it with an escape route by propping all doors open.
• Avoid direct eye contact, which may be perceived by a bear as a challenge. Never run from a bear. Instead, slowly back away.
• To scare the bear away, make loud noises by yelling, banging pots and pans or using an airhorn. Make yourself look as big as possible by waving your arms. If you are with someone else, stand close together with your arms raised above your head.
• The bear may utter a series of huffs, make popping jaw sounds by snapping its jaws and swat the ground. These are warning signs that you are too close. Slowly back away, avoid direct eye contact and do not run.
• If a bear stands on its hind legs or moves closer, it may be trying to get a better view or detect scents in the air. It is usually not a threatening behavior.
• Black bears will sometimes "bluff charge" when cornered, threatened or attempting to steal food. Stand your ground, avoid direct eye contact, then slowly back away and do not run.
• If the bear does not leave, move to a secure area.
• Report black bear damage or nuisance behavior to the DEP's 24-hour, toll-free hotline at 877-WARN DEP (877-927-6337).
• Families who live in areas frequented by black bears should have a "Bear Plan" in place for children, with an escape route and planned use of whistles and air horns.
• Use certified bear-resistant garbage containers and keep the container outdoors if you live in an area frequented by black bears. Certified bear-resistant trash containers have passed a formal testing procedure and are proven to keep bears out. Certified containers offer the best protection.

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