6 day Black Bear Hunt coming up in New Jersey--As George Wuerthner contends in his blog on hunting predators, we do not take into account the effect of killing on social units, creating younger, less experienced Bears who get into morre trouble with humans...........and finally, we do not take the steps to control our garbage disposal habits...........end result, kill the bears--SUCKS!

Scientists say N.J. black bear population can't be controlled without hunt

 MaryAnn Spoto/The Star-Ledger

A black bear wanders through the side yard of a home located on Brook Valley Road in Kinnelon in this 2006 file photo.

New Jersey's black bear population has soared to nearly 3,500, a level that can no longer be controlled solely by non-lethal methods, a wildlife biologist said today as the state Fish and Game Council adopted a management policy recommending a six-day hunt in December.

The biologist, Patrick Carr, said the main reason for the growing population is the abundance of food state residents willingly and unwillingly provide. The result, he said, is that the bruins are living longer and giving birth to more cubs than bears in other parts of the country.

Carr said that in New Jersey, black bears start to breed when they are 2 or 3 years old. In other parts of the country, the age is 4 or 5, he said. Litters are larger, too, with bears in New Jersey averaging three cubs per litter compared to two cubs per litter for bears living in national parks elsewhere. And bears in New Jersey are living longer; the oldest female tracked in New Jersey is 26 years old. Because of their favorable living conditions, adult survival rate is "extremely high," with 86 percent of adult bears surviving each year and 70 percent of cubs surviving their first year, Carr said.

"They're not food-stressed because we have such a diverse habitat so the cubs are getting tremendous resources, which is increasing their survival rate," he said.

Though bears have been sited in all 21 counties in New Jersey, the highest concentration is in the northwestern corner of the state, north of Route 80 and west of Route 287, said David Chanda, director of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife.

As the bear population grows, the number of complaints about them has also risen. There were 1,417 bear calls logged to fish and wildlife officials in 2007. The number rose to 2,820 in 2008 and 3,006 last year, according to the management policy adopted today.
Most of the complaints last year — 1,274 — were so-called category III — sightings of bears that do not present any nuisance. Another 1,477 calls were classified as Category II — bears that create a nuisance, such as raiding garbage cans, but are not a threat. The remaining 255 calls were Category 1 incidents, in which the bruins pose an immediate threat to life and property by breaking into homes, attacking livestock or destroying agriculture.
Gov. Chris Christie has said he supports a hunt while opponents say the state hasn't done enough to address residential trash problems that bring bears into contact with humans.
''I intend to scrutinize this proposed policy to make sure it provides the best possible solutions to the considerable challenge of managing this valued wildlife resource in the nation's most densely populated state,'' Martin said in a statement today.
Janet Piszar, director of the Bear Education and Resource Group, called the report a "smokescreen" and said it was based on "junk science."