Bear Encounters So High, New Jersey Bear Hunt Could Come Back

Bear sightings are up 238% and there are more bear and human encounters than ever.  I know it was controversial when Gov. Phil Murphy ended the New Jersey bear hunt, but at the time we had to give black bears a chance to recover their population. Now, it's more than tripled.

Want to take a nice hike in the woods?  Think twice before you do that because the bear activity will be at an all-time high since they are filling up on calories to get ready for their long winter nap.  Are we now overpopulated?  Some say yes and that may reinstate the bear hunt in New Jersey.  

The New Jersey bear hunt could be back on as early as next month.  Tomorrow the New Jersey Fish and Game Council will meet to discuss regulations if the hunt does indeed get reinstated. 

While residents who have been dealing with unwanted encounters are hopeful that it does, animal rights activists and conservationists are accusing the governor of backing out of a promise.  Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t this an ebb-and-flow situation? 

There has to be someone in charge who asks experts to monitor a situation, and after he or she gets that intel, they make a current-day decision fitting to the moment.  There were 62 aggressive attacks on humans, 12 dog attacks, 12 bear home entries, and 52 livestock attacks this year alone.  

Tripling the bear population has its problems.  Maybe it's not time to not go nuts, but just scale back the population a bit and maintain what we have.

You can read more about it from ABC 7 here.

When dogs see a bear in their yard they do not realize how dangerous the dynamic is.  If you have one of these dogs, they are the least likely to listen to you if they come in contact with one.