over 10,000 years ago Native Americans inhabited the area that would become the Garden State the
abundant and widespread black bears then provided food medicine and clothing for these people such
as the lenne lenape the arrival of European settlers created a greater impact on the
black bear besides killing bears for food they rendered their fat into sweet oil for cooking
and making medicines the major impact however came as New Jersey settlers cut and burned the
forest for lumber farming livestock and building towns settlers also shot bears for raiding their
livestock crops and orchards in the mid-1800s populations were declining rapidly by the early
nineteen hundreds fewer than one hundred black bears remained inhabiting the remote northern
areas of the state the early 20th century marked a new era for black bears as forests
began reclaiming New Jersey's abandoned farms and timbered areas back in 1954 the New Jersey Fish
and Game Council which is the organization that has the authority to set seasons and bag limits
on game species gave the black bear game status which allowed them the opportunity to prevent
indiscriminate killing with a stable population they allowed limited hunting through 1970 with
only 46 bears taken during ten years of hunting it indicated a relatively small population well
in 1971 the New Jersey Fish and Game Council closed the entire season on hunting black bear
to give the population an opportunity to to rebound and grow besides closing bear hunting
two other events helped New Jersey's black bear population rebuild over the past four decades
the creation of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area combined with a number of state
forests and wildlife management areas created over 100 square miles of mostly undisturbed bear
habitat in addition Pennsylvania closed their bear season in the mid-1970s for a few years
their population expanded and some of those bears migrated into new jersey since bears don't really
understand political boundaries today New Jersey's rebounding black bears occupy core habitats at the
highest black bear density of any state in the nation residents entrust the Division of Fish
and Wildlife and the Fish and Game Council to protect manage and conserve all wildlife and
its habitat including the black bear New Jersey is well known for having more people per square
mile than anywhere else in the country what we're not well-known for is that we also in the northern
third of the state have more black bear per square mile than anywhere else in the nation and that
poses some unique challenges to trying to manage black bear bears have been sighted in all of New
Jersey's 21 counties the highest concentration of bears in Sussex warren Passaic and Morris
Counties and people commonly refer to that as bear country quality bear habitat in Sussex Warren and
Passaic borders large bear populations in New York and Pennsylvania because bears don't recognize
political boundaries they move freely between states also these counties contain core areas
of prime bear habitat in the Kittatinny Ridge and bearfort mountain regions that offer 580
square miles of bear habitat this forested regions undeveloped tracks of dense rhododendron mountain
laurel hemlock hardwoods and shrubs provide bears abundant food and cover this quality habitat
supports a productive bear population with small home ranges adult female black bears here usually
have a home range of two square miles and the habitat supports up to three bears per square mile
despite the inroads of New Jersey's growing black bear population it remains in the shadow of the
state's expanding human population at the same time our black bear population was growing and
expanding our human population also continued to grow and expand and in our core black bear area
in Passaic County we have population densities as high as twenty-five hundred people per square mile
this combination of black bear density and human expansion inevitably leads to increased human bear
encounters these range from the most common one of bears raiding garbage bins to destroying bird
feeders or beehives killing livestock and domestic pets to entering people's homes they result in
complaints to the Division of Fish and Wildlife or local police departments from people who perceive
the black bear as threatening managing bears weighs heavily on managing people's understanding
and perception of bears so the Division of Fish and Wildlife uses education as a prime tool to
foster coexistence between people and bears while presenting bears as a valued wildlife resource
rather than a liability black bear are a vital part of New Jersey's wildlife heritage and we want
it to always remain that way so our goal is to try and balance the the black bear population with the
people that live in the state so that you have harmony with both besides public education the
state's management policy includes bear research population monitoring trapping and aversive
conditioning of nuisance bears euthanizing bears that threaten Public Safety and controlled hunting
to manage the population size it's a scientific and social blend that provides for a healthy black
bear population while responsibly addressing the very real property damage and safety concerns of
residents New Jersey's black bear management is built on decades of scientific research we
have over 30 years of research on black bears in northwestern New Jersey we've handled over 3,000
bears through our mark recapture studies and DNA analysis we have very good science to estimate
our bear population this scientific research has produced a wealth of data on black bear
reproduction survival mortality behavior and habitat use in new jersey research data shows
that compared to black bears in other states New Jersey's female bears are very productive besides
breeding at an early age our bears average 3 Cubs per litter and it's not uncommon for sows
to have five cubs in New Jersey also New Jersey Cubs have a high first year survival rate of 70%
and a 90% survival rate after their first year the main mortality for bears in New Jersey is
vehicle collision other documented causes of death include other bears and separation of
Cubs from the mother when they are less than six months old with New Jersey's dense human
and black bear populations sharing the same space management focuses on reducing and responding to
negative interactions between humans and bears the majority of these encounters stem from a
bear's biological need to eat a year's worth of food in seven months in 2003 New Jersey passed
legislation and made it illegal to intentionally feed black bears but unintentional feeding is a
much bigger issue and that is what we focus on with our black bear education efforts
people allowing bears to get into garbage bird feeders and pet food increases nuisance bear
behavior plus the likelihood of escalating to more serious incidents each time people allow a bear
to obtain food the bear becomes more positively conditioned to repeat the behavior of foraging
near humans which can sometimes lead to the destruction of the bear so eliminating intentional
and unintentional feeding is the most effective way to reduce nuisance bear incidents and prevent
the development of potentially dangerous behavior. Shut the door. despite education
and the prevention efforts of citizens some bears that have been conditioned to human food
become nuisance bears a nuisance bear is a repeat offender that causes property damage or threatens
humans or domestic animals nuisance bears trapped by the division are aversively conditioned with
rubber buckshot pyrotechnics and chasing by dogs nuisance bears that cause property damage
kill pets or livestock or threaten humans are euthanized when trapped and positively identified
while people get excited when they see a bear and get the call the Fish and
Wildlife Division also trains local law enforcement to respond to bear
complaints over the past decade they have trained over a thousand local county and
state law officers who a growing number of residents call to respond to bear incidents
in addition to education and response one scientifically and socially supported method
for controlling human bear encounters is adjusting black bear populations we have
great bear habitats and we can support a lot more bears biologically however we have to
consider the social carrying capacity and our goal is to have about one bear for two
and a half square miles and when we had that in the early 90s we had a far fewer negative human
interactions our management goal is to control the population and bring the densities of bears
down to about one bear per two and a half to three square mile the only viable management
tool to lower and control bear densities is controlled hunting seasons New Jersey's
bear hunting seasons in 2003 and 2005 clearly demonstrated their biologists ability to predict
and control the bear harvest by issuing permits to manage hunter numbers and hunting pressure
the seasons also demonstrated that reducing the bear population reduced the nuisance complaints
New Jersey's comprehensive black bear management policy which was officially adopted in 2010 now
provides for a regular bear hunting season structure for the management of the state's
black bear population level the black bear policy that our wildlife professionals have developed is
truly a comprehensive policy it involves research it involves education it involves garbage control
nuisance abatement truly everything that you need to responsibly manage wildlife species
alternative non lethal population control methods such as chemical sterilization and
contraception are being explored by independent researchers to determine if they are viable for
controlling wild bear populations these methods are still experimental and yet
to be tried on free roaming populations of bears at this time there is no EPA approved
contraceptive drug or sterilization technique proven safe and effective in free-ranging bears
so how do wildlife professionals communities and yes you the citizen face the challenges of
growing populations of people and bears sharing the same landscape in New Jersey one key is
educating citizens like you and encouraging you to share this information about the biology and
habits of black bears then committing to do what you and your neighbors can to minimize encounters
with these large omnivores with voracious appetites education is the foundation of
peacefully coexisting with black bears we need to know about black bears their biology and
their behavior but we also need to know what we need to do in order to prevent problems
from developing with black bears residents can also use certified bear resistant trash
containers and work with their local government to pass garbage management ordinances in their
municipality working together citizens and the Division of Fish and Wildlife will ensure that
New Jersey's black bears remain an integral part of the natural landscape and a healthy
and respected symbol of our remaining wilderness for more information about living with black
bears in new jersey please visit the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife's website citizens
can also call the black bear response unit for assistance or the toll free 24 hour DEP hotline
and to see the amount of work and care that goes in these biologists
these scientists are doing on our bear populations is amazing