Bear incidents steady in NJ but on the rise in Sussex; most serious category declines
New Jersey's most recent report on black bear incidents reinforces the reputation that Sussex County, even in the middle of winter, is where most bear contacts occur.
Of 157 incidents reported around the state from Jan. 1 through April 21, just over half came in the county, said the latest Black Bear Activity Report from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The 80 sightings, damage reports and other encounters in the county were almost 50% higher than in the same period a year ago, possibly a result of greater bear activity during a relatively mild winter. Sixty-three of the incidents this year were recorded in March and April.
Statewide, the reported incident total was about the same as the 159 in the same period last year, said the Division of Fish and Wildlife, which compiled the report. Overall, 13 of New Jersey's 21 counties have had at least one incident this year.
Bear incidents by county
Warren County was second with 29 incidents, followed by Morris at 16, Hunterdon at eight, Passaic at seven and Bergen at six.
Sussex County's geography of farmlands, wooded mountains and valleys is considered by wildlife biologists to be very suitable black bear habitat. As a result, even with a hunting season aimed at slowing population growth, the county has among the highest densities of black bears in the country.
Each month, the DEP publishes the overall number of incidents reported to the department both since the start of the year and in the past month. Reports to local police departments are not counted. In the period of March 20 to April 21, there were 117 reported-to-state incidents with 63 of them, 53.8%, coming from Sussex County.
The county also accounted for more than half of the black bears killed in last year's hunt. In both segments of the 2023 hunt — archery and shotgun — 497 black bears were brought to Division of Fish and Wildlife check stations or checked by biologists. Of those, 257 (52%) were reported taken in Sussex County.
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A drop in the most serious bear reports
Among the three categories the state uses to characterize bear reports, there was a drop from 13 to eight in Category I, the most serious.
There was a slight drop, from 86 to 84, in the middle category and an increase in Category III calls, considered the least serious, from 59 to 65. That category includes reported incidents ranging from a sighting to a damaged bird feeder or a vehicle collision.
Incidents involving garbage, which include problems at commercial establishments, are in Category II. The state reported 44 such incidents in the period of Jan. 1 to April 21 in 2023, compared with 39 for the same period this year.
Bear-resistant trash cans available in six towns
The state has purchased 3,000 bear-resistant containers from Toter of Statesville, N.C., under a $500,000 allocation in New Jersey's 2024 fiscal year budget.
Those containers are being distributed in Hardyston, Hampton and Sparta in Sussex County; in Rockaway and Jefferson in Morris County; and in West Milford in Passaic County.
The containers will be made available to households in areas of those towns that have shown the most bear activity and reported incidents.
“Certified bear-resistant garbage containers go through rigorous testing and are proven to keep bears out of trash,” said Janine MacGregor, director of the DEP's Division of Sustainable Waste. “Residential use of these containers per manufacturer recommendations is effective at preventing bears from obtaining food from trash.”
Email: bscruton@njherald.com; Twitter/X: @brucescrutonNJH
This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: NJ black bear reports rose in Sussex, were steady statewide, DEP says
