New Jersey Considers First Black Bear Hunt in 5 Years this December - Sports - Other Sports

Hunters of New Jersey will soon be able to hunt black bears. After a report released in March that stated upon other things an over population of black bears in the state the fish and game council proposed a 6 day hunt that is to start in December. Fish and game reported that nearly 3,500 black bears are in the state and they are starting to cause problems and damage local property. Black bears in the state of New Jersey have the highest litter sizes and the youngest breeding age in the nation. This high litter size and young breeding age along with abundant sources of food caused by humans has caused the increase in population size. Not only are the life spans of black bears in New Jersey higher but so are the reports of black bear incidents. Incidents where bears have caused a nuisance has risen greatly since 2007 with more total nuisance reports filed last year than all bear reports filed in 2007.

53% of the state agreed with the December hunt while 36% stated disapproval. The 36% are claiming that not enough has been done by state officials to control garbage in bear territory causing the increase in the bear population. Although I make no claims to know how bad the garbage problem is in the bear country of New Jersey I feel that making the garbage problem your reasoning for not allowing a bear hunt is flawed. If the garbage problem is fixed we will be cutting out some of the bears food sources which will cause black bears to die of natural causes like starvation. Starvation seems like a painful way to die and that seems like something we shouldn't allow to happen to the bears. With the hunt in December the black bear population will be controlled in a way that causes very little suffering to the bears. A bullet from a skilled hunter will kill the bears very quickly without long periods of pain when compared to starvation.

So to all those that feel the black bear hunt is wrong and shouldn't be allowed I ask why do you want black bears in New Jersey to suffer? A controlled hunt will help to limit the population, provide food for the hunters, and decrease the likelihood of bear attacks on campers, hikers, and fishers.

This situation is a good case of why it is important to have game and fish authorities in states. They help to collect, analysis, and control data to make decisions on what is best for both humans and animals.

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