miércoles, 21 de agosto de 2013

285 bears killed in New Jersey during this year's bear hunt - The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

The estimated numbers were down. It turns out the actual numbers are even smaller.

This year, 285 bears were killed during the third consecutive bear hunt, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's preliminary data published on its website Saturday at 8:30 p.m.

That's fewer than half of the 592 bears killed in 2010, and a steep drop from the 469 bears harvested last year.

Initially, DEP officials had estimated that anywhere from 331 to 442 bears would be killed this year.

This year's hunt got off to a much slower start compared to last year when hunters killed 257 bears in the first 24 hours. They killed fewer than half that amount — 122 bears — on the first day of the hunt this year.

About 1,000 fewer hunters participated in the six-day hunt this year — down to an estimated 6,400 from last year's 7,500 hunters.

Also, a few days of unseasonably warm weather may have hampered the efforts of hunters hoping to make a big kill, some experts said. Bears who already gorged themselves with food in preparation for winter hibernation would not be as active or wandering in search of food.

Though the number of bears in the Garden State have declined over three consecutive state-sponsored hunts, director of the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife David Chanda believes the hunt still serves a purpose, saying, "We still have a ways to go."

However DEP officials have noted a 43 percent decrease in the number of potentially dangerous incidents between bears and people from the same time last year.

Animal rights activists remain staunchly opposed to the hunt. Sue Russell, the wildlife policy specialist with the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, called the annual hunt "depraved" and activists say enforcing bear-proof trash bins and penalizing those who feed the creatures could effectively manage the population.

Of the 285 bears killed, well over half, or 188 bears, were harvested in Sussex County, according to the DEP. Next was Morris County with 42 bears killed, then Warren County with 32 and Passaic County with 23.

The overall bear population in northwest New Jersey has thinned out in the last two years, with an estimated population of 3,400 decreased to between 2,800 to 3,000, according to the Division of Fish and Wildlife.

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