Although the number of bears in northwestern New Jersey have been thinned over three consecutive state-sponsored hunts, those numbers still need to be cut in half, the director of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife said today.
As a result, he said, the hunt is here to stay.
"We still have a ways to go," David Chanda, the division’s director, said hours before this year’s six-day hunt ended today. "We have more black bear per square mile than anywhere else in North America."
Those opposed to the hunts, who took their challenge to the state Supreme Court before it was thrown out in April, said they are shocked at the prospect of cutting the bear population in half.
"That’s ridiculous," said Doris Lin, an attorney for the Animal Protection League of New Jersey and the Bear Education and Resource group. "They just keep changing the goal to keep having these recreational hunts."
The bear population in northwestern New Jersey stood at 3,400 in the months before the first hunt in 2010. Before this year’s hunt began, the number of bears had dropped to between 2,800 and 3,000, state officials said.
A "more reasonable" number is between 1,200 to 1,500, Chanda said.
State wildlife officials have reported 228 bears killed this year as of Thursday. Last year, 469 bears were killed and a record 592 were taken during the 2010 hunt.
State biologists believe this year’s numbers were lower because of foggy mornings and warmer weather at the start of the hunt that made the bears sluggish. But as the week progressed and temperatures dropped, the daily kills increased, they said. Chanda also said there were about 1,000 fewer hunters this year than last. Overall, he said, it is unlikely this year’s hunt reduced the overall bear population.
"I don’t think we’ll effect any kind of population reduction," Chanda said.
Still, some big bears were "harvested" this year.
A 702-pound male was killed Tuesday in Mansfield. Another male, killed in Frelinghuysen Township Monday, weighed in at 686 pounds after being gutted, said Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection.
The last day of this year’s hunt ended with another protest.
Dozens of people from animal-rights groups used bullhorns to voice their outrage outside the Whittingham Fish and Wildlife Management Area check station in Fredon. Protesters say they’ll continue fighting to protect the bears by demonstrating and lobbying for changes to state laws. They are backing a bill by State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) that would ban baiting bears with food and require certain residences in core bear habitat to use bear-resistant garbage containers.
The hunt was conducted in an area west of Route 287 and north off Route 80.
RELATED COVERAGE
• N.J. bear hunt ends this weekend
• Kills down by half from last year, through two days of N.J. bear hunt
• This year's N.J. bear hunt expected to be more low-key, but fundamental divide remains