The spectacle of a Morristown policeman shouting and chasing a bear down South Street on Sunday — a scene captured here on video–looks puzzling at first.
Aren’t authorities supposed to shoot wandering bears with a tranquilizer dart and cart them back to the woods?
Actually, no. Not in this instance, anyway, according to a state expert.
Patrick Carr, supervising wildlife biologist for the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, said Morristown police called the state on June 26 when a bear climbed a tree in front Rite Aid. Police were advised to keep people away, wait for the bear to come down, and see if the animal would make its way back to the woods.
Which, apparently, is what happened. Morristown police did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
This is bear breeding season, when older males force young males to hit the green highway. When greenways run out, yearlings find themselves in places like South Street, Patrick said.
Bears also have been seen lately in New Providence, Parsippany, Chatham and North Brunswick, he noted.
“Our advice to local police is, if they clear the crowd and allow the bear an escape route, the bear will try to get back to wooded corridors,” he said.
Clik here to view.
If an “urban” bear cannot extract itself from a tree, state wildlife officials will come with their dart guns and seek assistance from local fire departments to catch the darted bear in nets. The bruin will be released in a suitable wooded area.
For “nuisance” bears–animals that forage in garbage or refuse to leave a backyard–the state advises police to scare them away with blasts of rubber buckshot.
About 30 bears per year are killed for aggressive behavior or to defuse dangerous situations. Union Township police shot a small bear that roamed near a school last week.
Food-wise, this is a lean time of year for bears. They are scrounging skunk cabbage and mulberries, along with acorns and beech nuts from last fall, and any eggs or small animals they can find, Patrick said.
People would seem to be easy prey for hungry bears–which grow as big as 726 pounds in New Jersey. Yet attacks on human are extremely rare, Patrick said, because the most aggressive bears have been removed from the gene pool.
Motorists may have the most to fear.
Clik here to view.
“The threat is a bear crossing busy roads, causing car accidents,” Patrick said, explaining why some bears are euthanized. “Darts are not instantaneous. This is not Wild Kingdom. It takes 10 or 15 minutes for the bear to go to sleep. A lot of bad things can happen in 10 or 15 minutes.”
Seventy-five to 80 bears are hit by cars in New Jersey every year, he said.
Since 2005, the state’s estimated bear population has doubled to about 3,500 animals. Although most of them live north of Route 78 and west of Route 287, they have been reported in all 21 New Jersey counties.
They have turned up in congested cities such as Weehawken, even ambling within a couple of blocks of the George Washington Bridge, Patrick said.
Hunters killed 592 bears in the Garden State last year, ending a five-year ban.
There are no guarantees that relocated bears will stay put, either. On June 19, an urban bear showed up in a Connecticut town 60 miles from Ringwood State Park in Passaic County, where it had been released one month earlier, Patrick said.
Which means the bear had to swim the Hudson River.
“I know it didn’t take the Tappan Zee,” Patrick said.
WHAT TO DO IF A BEAR LINGERS IN YOUR YARD…
Patrick Carr of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife advises:
- Hurling tennis balls at the bear
- Spraying the bear with a garden hose
- Keeping your dog inside
- Storing trash cans securely
- Removing bird feeders
For more information about bears, see this state website.