N.J. bear hunt nets 241 kills by Saturday night

Hunters had killed 52 bears by 10:30 p.m. Saturday night, bringing the total number of bears harvested as of the sixth day of New Jersey’s bear hunt to 241, a Fish and Wildlife spokesman said.

While the figures marked a significant decrease from the 562 killed during last year’s hunt, an animal rights activist told a reporter the numbers don’t matter.

“The senseless slaughter of young cubs and yearlings and moms for trophies, mounts and rugs,” said Angi Metler, director of the Bear Education and Resource Group. “That’s what this hunt is about. Don’t kid yourself. It’s not about numbers.”

Bill Crain, another activist, knew he would be arrested Saturday morning when he left the designated protest zone at the Whittingham Wildlife Management Area. It wasn’t the first time he left a bear hunt protest in handcuffs.

An animal rights activist and professor at the City College of New York, Crain spent a week in jail this January after protesting last December’s bear hunt in the state.

“I was in jail eight days the last time I did this,” Crain said. “This would be the eighth time so it will probably be more.”

With a sign that read “Mother Nature is Crying” hanging from his neck, Carin crossed the street and walked toward the bear check-in station, where he was stopped by New Jersey State Police and Conservation Police, handcuffed, and placed in a trooper’s car.

Protesters from across New Jersey

Crain was joined by more than 50 other protesters outside the check-in station Saturday, who chanted phrases like “Stop this cruel hunt” and held signs with pictures of bears that read “I am not your trophy” and “Make America humane again” for several hours.

About two dozen State Troopers, Conservation officers, and Sussex County Sheriff officers separated them from hunters and state Fish and Wildlife officials at the check-in station.

Jay Saleh, of Little Silver, held his two 2-year-old son, Charlie, in his arms as he stood with fellow protesters. In Charlie’s arms was Snowball, a stuffed polar bear. It was their first time attending a bear hunt protest.

“I think that this is disgusting,” Saleh said. “This hunt is something a small number of people want. It’s been shown time and time again that people don’t want this. As the most intelligent and capable species, our job should be to care, not take advantage of others.”

Saleh said he is against the slaughter of all animals.

“I believe in rights and protection for all animals,” he said. “It’s going to take a lot of time to convince people that cows should have rights, but bears are an easier place to start.”

The Fredon check-in station opened at 9 a.m. Saturday, the final day of New Jersey’s six-day hunt. The first three days were archery-only, while the final three days allowed both bows and muzzleloading rifles.

In the first two hours, just one hunter brought in a black bear. He said he killed it the night before in Stokes State Forest in Sussex County after the check-in station had closed, and he froze it overnight so the meat would not spoil.

The bear weighed 134 pounds. A tooth was also removed to determine the age of the bruin, and a DNA sample was taken before the hunter drove away, past the crowd of protesters.

Wayne resident Mary Sepede said she has been protesting every year the state has held a bear hunt since 2003.

“It’s cruel. It’s barbaric. The bears have a right to live and there are non-lethal methods that need to be utilized before the drastic method of killing and maiming these animals,” Sepede said. “To me it’s just cruel and not necessary. For every person here today there are thousands more that are against this hunt. We won’t stop until this hunt stops.”

Cindy Bartman of Waldwick said it was her first time protesting the bear hunt in person, though she has always been opposed to it.

“I feel that a trophy hunt is barbaric,” Bartman said. “So I’m here to support the end of the bear hunt and protest the annihilation of wildlife in the state of New Jersey.”

Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said the bear population has been “overhunted” since the hunt returned in 2010. He endorsed education and garbage management plans plan as non-lethal alternatives to the hunt.

“The black bear is a symbol that we still have wild places left in the state and that we haven’t completely given over to sprawl,” Tittle said. “Instead of having a real bear management plan with non-lethal options and education, [Gov. Chris] Christie keeps expanding on his failed plan. The bear population has been so depleted that there aren’t many left to hunt. We may go back to the days where there’s only 50 bears left in the state. This is merely a trophy hunt without any real management.”

State still counting

While many oppose the controversial hunt, the state said it is designed to help control New Jersey’s growing bear population. There are an estimated 2,400 to 2,800 bears in the eight northwestern New Jersey counties where this week’s hunt is taking place.

This is the 10th bear hunt in New Jersey Since 2003, which has been held every year since 2010.

Al Ivany, Chief of the Bureau of Information and Education for the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, said warm and wet weather is a contributing factor to lower numbers, as is a significant mast crop, specifically acorns, meaning bears don’t have to search for food.

If 30 percent of the black bear population is killed, the hunt will end 24 hours after that figure is recorded. But with less than a day to go, it did not look like that figure would be reached in the first segment of the hunting season.

With 241 bears harvested over the past six days, about 11.9 percent of the recorded population was killed. That figure is based on 135 bears that the state tagged and released back into the population this year.

The vast majority, 135 bears, were killed in Sussex County. Warren was next with 48, followed by Morris at 34. One bear was killed in Bergen County as of 10:30 p.m. Saturday night.

Through both segments of 2016’s bear hunt, 636 bears were harvested, including 344 in Sussex County. 104 black bears were killed in Morris and three were killed in Bergen. The total for that season was 25.9 percent of the estimated population.

Segment B of the bear hunt is firearms-only and will be held from Dec. 4 through Dec. 9, running concurrently with firearm deer season. Should the 30 percent harvest objective not be met after that time, the hunt may be extended an additional week if totals are under 20 percent.