This information is intended for educational purposes.

New Jersey "BEAR ACTIVITY REPORT:"
For the period January 1, 2008 through April 20, 2008 versus same period in 2007.

Category I Bear incidents are up a whopping 314.3% this year over the same period last year (January 1 -April 20.) Category 1 contains the most severe incidents. Increases were seen in the categories; Attempted Home Entry, Home Entry, Livestock Kills, Aggressive behavior, Vehicle Entry, and Rabbit Attacks. A total incident report in category I (one) is 29 in 2008 versus 7 in 2007.

Category II Bear incidents have also increased a stunning 177.4%. Property Damage, Nuisance and Garbage incidents were the categories that contained the complaints. A total incident report in category II (two) is 172 in 2008 versus 62 in 2007.

Even Category III complaints (Bird Feeder damage, Sightings and Vehicle Strikes) are up 46.3% from prior year (79 incidents in 2008 versus 54 incidents in 2007.)

These figures do NOT include incidents reported to police departments without assistance from the DEP.

These incidents are NOT restricted to one or two areas of New Jersey or a hand-full of people. The above complaints include the counties that reported activity, which were: Sussex, Ocean, Warren, Morris, Somerset, Passaic, and Hunterdon.

As the population of bears continues to increase in NJ, unrestricted by any method of population control, so too do the risks to humans and pets.

This information is taken from publicly disclosed documents. Although black bear attacks on humans are infrequent there are a reported 52 known fatal black bear attacks in North America during the last 100 years.

Ant
Anthony P. Mauro, Sr.
Chairman, NJOA