New Jersey Hunt Kills Record Amount of Bears
Written by TGB Staff

Speaking of bad news bear, New Jersey’s potentially annual bear hunt, which began on December 6th, has broken the record for bears killed in a single day. After the first day of the hunt, 264 bears had been killed and as of day 2, that number has climbed to 341 – already more than the total from the last hunt, which killed 297 bears over 6-days in 2005. To make matters worse, the need to cull the bear population is now in question.

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife estimated that the state bear population has risen to 3,400 bears, and that the only way to deal with the population and to protect the people was to open a hunt. Their goal was to cull the population by 300-400 bears, but after two days, it is now estimated that 700+ bears could be killed.

Somewhat troubling is that one of the first bears to be killed was shot just one hour after the hunt opened – by an 11-year old child. Little Christian Davidson killed a 3 ½ year old female bear, and, along with his dad and uncle, brought the 200 pound bear to a taxidermist to stuff. (yuk)

More troubling is that some hunters are keen to kill the bears because they are tired of seeing them in their yards. Hunter Daniel Smith said of his target, "I’m tired of seeing him on my front steps," and nicknamed him "’Carpet,’ because I’m hoping that’s what he’s going to be."

But the most troubling report comes from NBC New York. The former Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Mark Mauriello told NBC New York that he wasn’t sure if the science behind the decision to hold the hunt was accurate.

His reason: New Jersey didn’t so much count the population of bears to arrive at the conclusion that there was a population problem. Instead, they counted the number of unconfirmed bear sightings that the people of the garden state called in and reported.

"I'm not a hunter, I'm hunting neutral," Muriello said on the second day of the hunt. While admitting that he did believe hunting could be a “reasonable tool,” he questions whether the hunt is based on facts or faulty reports of bear sighting.

In a state that is notorious for big hair on women and bear like hair all over the men, certainly some form of bear sighting confirmation should be made before assuming that the hairy thing crossing the street by the nail salon was a bear, and not just someone’s husband, right? We’re talking about Jersey here. JERSEY!

We are quite disappointed by this whole tragic event. And not just about the potentially bad science used or the teaching of hunting to children. We admit that we're also disappointed by the quality of the protester’s signs, which read “Mother Nature is Crying.” Come on, people, you have to do better than that if you want to make a statement.

Incidentally, there has been one recorded killing of a person in New Jersey by a bear. Of course, it happened in 1870 … Clearly, the beasts need to be gunned down.

http://www.tinygreenbubble.com/animal-rights/item/1207-new-jersey-hunt-kills-record-amount-of-bears