Calls for Bear Hunt Growing

New Jersey's black bear population may have grown by more than a third in just one year, prompting one state lawmaker to rethink his opposition to instituting a bear hunt.

Preliminary results from the state's annual tally of its black bear population indicate there could be as many as 1,900 bears in New Jersey.

Wildlife officials plan to release final results from the census next month after biologists compile data from winter den checks and DNA tests.

The estimate was 1,400 one year ago. And two decades ago, there were fewer than 100 bears in New Jersey.

Animal rights activists suggest the most recent number is inflated, but one state lawmaker said it may warrant action.

"Maybe we need a limited hunt. The last thing we need is someone getting hurt by a bear," Assemblyman Christopher Bateman, R-Branchburg, told the Daily Record of Morristown for Saturday's editions.

Bateman, who has sponsored legislation to put a five-year moratorium on a bear hunt, met Wednesday with Fish and Wildlife officials.

Earlier this month, a bear was shot by police in Sparta after it was found trying to get into a home. The animal fled and couldn't be found. Last week, a bear attacked a dog in Sussex County.

Two years ago, frequent bear-human encounters nearly led to the first state-sanctioned bear hunt since 1970, but closer monitoring was chosen instead. Wildlife officials say there are no plans for a hunt this year.

Bears are reproducing in Sussex, Warren, Morris, Passaic, northwestern Bergen, Hunterton, parts of Somerset and northern Mercer counties. State biologists have been checking dens to count sleeping animals and fit females with radio-tracking collars.

Officials also have snared bears and used traps that gather fur samples for DNA analysis so the bears can be catalogued by genetic code.

State wildlife spokesman Al Ivany said officials have been recapturing fewer bears, another indication of the animals' rebound.

Ivany said bears have no predators. Aside from automobile strikes and the occasional killing of a bear deemed to be aggressive, the animals are limited only by natural mortality.

Last year, 52 were killed by vehicles; 20 were put down by the division and four were killed by police and property owners.

Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, questions the accuracy of the bear population estimates. Some animal rights activists suggest the numbers have been inflated to justify a hunt.

Said Tittel: "There needs to be a real, independent study of black bears in New Jersey."

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Author: 6 ABC-AP