Black bear hunt underway

A BEAR hunt aimed at thinning New Jersey’s burgeoning black bear population got underway at daybreak yesterday, with hunters venturing out in freezing temperatures to try their luck.

Animal rights groups had unsuccessfully challenged plans for the hunt, approved by the state because of increasing numbers of bear sightings and complaints.

The six-day season is expected to lure about 5,000 hunters to New Jersey’s rural north-western counties.

Rich Cutting, 41, took the week off work in hopes of bagging his first bear in a lifetime of hunting.

“I’m hoping to get lucky. Hopefully, it won’t take all week,” said Mr Cutting, who bundled up in two sets of thermal underwear and set off in Wawayanda State Park at about 5:40am, a 12-gauge shotgun in hand.

The hunt is restricted to an area of about 2,575 square kilometres in the state’s north-west corner, with hunters required to use shotguns or old-fashioned muzzle-loading rifles.

The state’s last bear hunt was in 2003, when 328 were killed. That was the first bear season since 1970, when hunts were suspended because the black bear population had dropped to about 100 animals.

Today, the population is estimated at 1,600 to 3,200, and the loss of habitat to development is forcing many of the animals to seek food in populated areas.

Animal welfare groups say the hunt is cruel and unnecessary, but their legal arguments were rejected in two courts Friday.

“This hunt is not rooted in public safety,” said Janine Motta, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance, one of the groups. “It’s rooted in providing a hunting opportunity, getting trophies for walls and rugs for floors.”

Opponents of the bear hunt planned to gather at a weigh station at Wawayanda, with teams also fanning out into the woods looking for bears that have been shot but not killed.