https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/08/bear-euthanized-after-attacking-nj-man-in-his-garage.htmlA black bear that attacked a man in North Jersey was euthanized by the state earlier this week.
The state Division of Fish and Wildlife trapped and killed the suspected problem bear on Tuesday in West Milford, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement.
The DEP believes the bear, which had entered multiple homes in the past week, was the same one that attacked a man in his garage on July 24.
The victim of that attack, 82-year-old Ronald Jelinek, was left with more than 30 stitches, according to a NorthJersey.com report. Jelinek, who lives in the High Crest Lake section of West Milford, was reportedly attacked when he walked in on the bear trying to get into a refrigerator.
Jelinek declined to comment when reached by NJ Advance Media.
This is the only bear attack recorded so far in 2020. It is extremely rare that black bears attack humans.
New Jersey didn’t have a recorded fatal bear attack on a person until 2014, when 22-year-old Darsh Patel, a Rutgers student and Edison native, was killed by a black bear while hiking with friends in the Apshawa Preserve, which is also in West Milford. The attack on Patel could be considered to be “one in a million,” experts said at the time.
This year, between January 1 and July 21, there have been 200 bear sightings around New Jersey, according to DEP data. That’s about a 90% increase from the same time period in 2019, when there were 105 sightings statewide.
The number of Category 1 bear incidents, in which state policy is to euthanize the responsible bear, has remained mostly steady. There have been 23 Category 1 incidents from January 1 to July 21 this year, compared to 22 during the same time last year.
But the number of reported home entries by bears has more than doubled in those comparisons, with nine this year compared to four in the same time during 2019.
Those numbers do not include Jelinek’s bear encounter, which occurred a few days after that date range.
The DEP said earlier this year that bear sightings may be up because more people are at home, thanks to the coronavirus.
“This is the time of year when bears are looking for habitat, particularly younger males that have left their mothers,” DEP spokesman Larry Hajna said at the start of July. “Reports may have increased due to more people being at home seeing bears as they disperse into habitats.”
The surging number of bear sightings and incidents has rekindled debate over New Jersey’s bear hunt, with hunting advocates like the New Jersey Outdoor Alliance using the statistics to call for an expansion of the annual season.
Gov. Phil Murphy campaigned on a promise to end the state’s bear hunt, a move called for by animal rights activists and some environmental groups. But the governor is unable to take such action on his own, as the state’s hunting regulations are approved by the New Jersey Fish and Game Council.
While he is unable to end the hunt outright, Murphy did ban bear hunting on state lands in 2018. That ban remains in effect.
In January 2018, just days before Murphy took office, a report from state wildlife officials warned that ending the bear hunt could cause New Jersey’s bear population to double by 2022.
The numbers of bears killed by hunters has dropped since Murphy’s restrictions went into effect. There were 225 bears harvested in New Jersey in 2018, and 315 harvested in 2019. Both are down from the 409 bears harvested in 2017, the last hunt under former Gov. Chris Christie.
New Jersey’s 2020 bear hunt is scheduled to begin Oct. 12.
To reduce the risk of dangerous encounters with bears, the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife recommends taking steps to keep sources of food, birdseed, trash and other things that may attract the animals out of reach. These steps range from using bear-resistant garbage containers and avoiding feeding birds when bears are active, to regularly cleaning outdoor grills and removing fruits and nuts that fall from trees into your yard.
People who do encounter a bear should remain calm, make the bear aware of their presence by speaking assertively and making noise, avoid direct eye contact with the bear and allow the allow to have an escape route, according to state safety tips.
Black bear sightings and suspected instances of bear nuisance in New Jersey should be reported to the DEP’s 24-hour, toll-free hotline at 1-877-WARN DEP (1-877-927-6337).
