The "Garden State", New Jersey, had grown it's Black Bear population to some 3400 Bruins in 2009..........60 years ago, there were a scant 100 Bears in the state.............Outstanding as this all is, the last 4 years of hunting has knocked the Bear population down by roughly 30% to 2500..................State biologists will tell you that from an ecological services and carrying capacity based on available food and habitat, New Jersey could harbor well over 3400 Black Bears.............The ever ready argument of State Game Commissions including NJ is that from a "human social carrying capacity", 2500 Bears are more than enough for the state's forest and fields.............Hogwash I say,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Instead of killing the bears to satisfy the hunting community, why not be teaching NJ residents how to properly dispose of garbage so that the Bears do not become a nuisance.............As we have heard from many experts on this blog, killing Carnivores to keep their numbers down can lead to increased conflict with us due to creating younger and more inexperienced bear populations---These "adolescents" will take greater chances around human habitation, creating chaos with residents...............Wake up the "State-of my growing-up-years................Do the right thing and finance wildlife management through vehicle license sales and proceeds from state sales taxes, not through hunter killing license tags

Click the following to access the sent link: Annual den-to-den census of NJ's  black bears has its dangers [video]* ANNUAL DEN TO  DEN CENSUS OF  NJ BLACK BEARS  HAS IT'S DANGERS Black bear No. 8141 doesn’t know it yet, but she’s  about to get shot in her fat rump. She is sleeping now, deep in her cave, guarding two cubs, maybe three. She will awaken to the whoosh of an air gun  and the sting of a tranquilizer dart. What she decides to do next could mess up Kelcey Burguess’s whole day. “Things could get real exciting here in a minute,” says Burguess, standing just uphill from the den. “If she runs, she might run  you over. It’s wise to step out of the way.” Burguess is a biologist with the New Jersey Division  of Fish and Wildlife. For three months every winter,  this is his primary job. Working with a team of  biologists and technicians, he crawls into dens with  sleeping black bears. He shoots them with  tranquilizers. The bears leave their dens, either  sleeping and pulled out slowly by the humans;  or awake, quickly and of their own accord. Once  outside, the bears are measured, weighed, and  tested for disease. Most important, the bears are counted. This makes Burguess’s work controversial,  since the census is intertwined with New Jersey’s  annual bear hunt. By counting a portion of the  state’s bears, biologists determine how many  of their cubs survived the summer, and estimate  how fast the population is growing. Come December  and the state’s six-day bear season, this combination  of science and guesswork helps the Fish and  Wildlife division decide how many bears may  be shot by hunters. To some people, that makes Burguess a hero .“Jumping into dens full of black bears? It’s  amazing the work Kelcey Burguess does,”  says John Rogalo, chairman of the New Jersey  State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs. To others, he is anything but.“Kelcey has a  passion for killing,” says Angi Metler, executive  director of the Animal Protection League of New  Jersey. “They do the census only to make sure  there are enough bears to kill. It is inhumane.” No matter which side is right, both sides agree  the problem is not the bears. It’s the humans.  There were 3,438 black bears living in the hills of northwest New Jersey in 2009, according to  an estimate by the Department of Environmental  Protection. Four hunting seasons later the  population is down to about 2,500, Burguess says. Even with 8.8 million people, New Jersey still has plenty of food and habitat for bears, which is why  the species has been spotted in every county in  the state. “Biologically, we could handle a lot more bears, ” Burguess says. But biology isn’t the only factor, of course. Many  residents and municipalities in bear country  oppose measures that would require them to  place household garbage in bear-resistant cans.  Even after the housing meltdown and subsequent  recession, New Jersey continues to build suburban  developments deep inside some of the state’s best  bear habitats. This combination of proximity and  easy access to human food increases the likelihood  that bears and humans will meet. A resident in Roxbury returned home with her  daughters last September to find a momma  bear and her cubs playing on her backyard  swing set. Photos of the cute romping bears  created an Internet sensation. Eventually, however, one such interaction  will turn tragic. While state agencies and  animal-rights activists disagree over whether  hunting alleviates or exacerbates the problem, everyone agrees the danger is real. “Culturally, the residents of New Jersey aren’t  going to tolerate an overabundance of black bears, ” Burguess says. “If they have black bears chasing  their children to the school bus and eating their  pets, they’ll just start shooting them to extinction.” Burguess hopes to keep that from happening.  He wants the bear population to stay safe and  healthy, which is why he jumps into bear dens  in the middle of winter. In the field, he and his team apply antibiotics  to bears with infected wounds. When they find  bears with damaged limbs or even broken hips,  they have carried the animals out of the  wilderness and found veterinarians to provide  reduced-cost care. “A lot of people think we at Fish and Wildlife  think, ‘Aw, just kill it,’Ÿ” he says. “Well we  actually do care about the animals. We’ve  gone to great lengths to try and help them out.” Bears in N.J. Black bears are native to New Jersey and were  common through the 1800s. After extensive hunting,  their population by the mid-1950s fell to fewer than  100. The state Fish and Game Council decided in  1953 to classify black bears as a game animal,  which served to limit bear hunting. Due partly to this  decision and also to land preservation efforts, as well  as the shift of former agricultural lands into mature  forests, the population rebounded. The counts cover  the area north of Route 80 and west of Route 287,  and are estimates based on field counts. 2001: 1,777 2003: 1,600-3,200 2005: 2,397 2009: 3,438 2011: 2,800-3,000 2014: 2,500* *Unofficial estimate Source: state Fish and Game Council