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A Boy Scout leader from Boonton suffered bites and scratches after being attacked by a bear while hiking at Splitrock Reservoir Sunday afternoon with three young scouts, authorities said. Christopher Petronino, 50, managed to fend off the black bear using a rock hammer after the animal pulled him into a small cave. Petronino and the scouts were later able to draw the bear out of the cave with food, Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Bob Considine said in a statement. The group had set out to hike on the trails that cover the 625-acre wilderness, and they came along the...

— To Alexis Simms, a custodian at Augusta Elementary School, it was "just a cub, the cutest thing you had ever seen." But to animal control officers and the local police who had tracked it for more than an hour through the closely packed backyards of this Essex County town, it was an addled and frightened black bear that had reared up as if to charge. Taking no chances, the police shot and killed the 218-pound bear about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. It was the second bear in five days to be killed after wandering into an urban area where a...

Hikers were undeterred Friday, but people who live in bear country were unnerved by a fatal black bear attack earlier this week near a West Milford hiking trail.Darsh Patel, 22, a Rutgers University student from Edison, was found dead by police in the 576-acre Apshawa Preserve after he and four friends ran from a 4-year-old, 300 pound black bear that was trailing them. Patel’s body was found with bite and claw marks on it. Authorities, who searched two hours for Patel, shot and killed a bear that was found near his body acting aggressively.“They’re normally so docile,” said Suzie...

HOPATCONG, N.J. (AP) — A cable TV repairman got quite a surprise when he walked into the basement of a New Jersey home. There was a 500-pound bear sound asleep on the floor.

The number of bears killed in the New Jersey bear hunt climbed to 386 by the close of check stations Tuesday, the second day of the hunt. The new number was reported Wednesday morning by the state Division of Fish and Wildlife. Hunters brought in 264 bear to check stations Monday and 122 by 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The total number of bear killed in the first two days was more than the entire duration of the last two bear hunts in 2003 and 2005. State officials expect that 500 to 700 bears will be killed by the time the...

Too close for comfort. Residents of one New Jersey town said they're used to seeing black bears near their homes, but not like this. An entire family of the wild animals were captured on video playing and lounging where children had been moments before. Ushanti Gerri shot the video Tuesday afternoon, shocked to see bear cubs at play only steps from her back door. Not just two, but three of them, standing on their hind legs, sparring, exploring, acting like children, under the watchful eye of their very large mother. The bear family spent more than a half hour playing...

Before the state approved its last bear hunt in 2005, hundreds of farmers, homeowners, animal rights protesters and hunters voiced their opinions in a final, raucous hearing that had to be moved to the State Museum auditorium in Trenton to accommodate the crowd. The scene was far different today, when the state Fish and Game Council voted unanimously — and with considerably less fanfare — to recommend a six-day bear hunt for northwest New Jersey in December. Gathering in a small room in Monmouth County, the council met before just 20 people, most of them state employees. Three people spoke...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   Public Hearing on Black Bear Situation in New Jersey   Tuesday, July 31, 2007   Please Attend This Important Meeting Wednesday, August 8 On Wednesday, August 8, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is hosting a public hearing at the State Museum at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the preservation and management goals for the black bear population in New Jersey.  This will be the only opportunity to make it known that New Jersey hunters want the bear hunting season restored.   The State Museum is located at located at 205 West State...

<p>WHITE HAVEN, Pa. — A bear tried to pull a Girl Scout out of her tent during a camping trip, the girl and scout officials said.</p> <p>Celeste Tietz, 11, said Wednesday that she managed to grab a tent pole and slide out of her sleeping bag as the bear was tugging at it early Sunday morning at Camp Mosey Wood.</p>

Lakeland teachers Dave Niedosik and Lorraine Nangle leading their students in dissecting the bear at the high school in Wanaque. The bear's paws were easy enough to slice off.  Then, trouble: None of the teachers or students had anticipated that you can't dissect the rest of a frozen black bear carcass until you thaw it out.  Forget the scalpels. Bring out the hot water, and the big buck knives.  All in all, as biology lessons go, the one taught under the open sky at Lakeland Regional High School in Wanaque on Thursday was definitely not for the squeamish.  Students...

Associated Press TRENTON, N.J. -- A group favoring a New Jersey bear hunt as a way to control the bruin population is considering filing a lawsuit against the state because it has not issued hunting permits, a lawyer with the group said Tuesday. Gov. Jon S. Corzine has not yet decided whether to approve a hunt this year. Douglas Burdin, a lawyer with Safari Club International, a national hunting and conservation group, said Tuesday that a lawsuit "probably will be filed within days," seeking to make the state issue the permits. "The bear hunt is currently authorized under New Jersey...

VERNON -- Four animal rights activists involved in a confrontation with hunters at Wawayanda State Park during last year's bear hunt were found guilty Thursday of harassment. The most prominent, Angela Metler of Vernon, drew a 40-day jail term. Municipal Court Judge C. William Bowkley Jr. found that the 49-year-old Metler, Terry Fritzges, 57, of East Windsor, Janet Pizsar, 53, of Milburn, and Albert Kazemian, 49, also of Vernon, were determined to disrupt the state-sanctioned bear hunt when they entered the park on the morning of Dec. 7. Besides sentencing Metler to jail time, Bowkley handed her and the others...

Clawless kitty chases bear up tree CBC News Last Updated Fri, 09 Jun 2006 18:47:10 EDT Who needs a guard dog when Jack the elderly suburban housecat is on duty? The 10-year-old New Jersey tabby defended his neighbourhood turf earlier this week by chasing a wandering black bear up a tree — twice. This black bear clings to a backyard tree after it was chased by a New Jersey cat. (Suzanne Giovanetti/Associated Press) West Milford residents Suzanne and Jack Giovanetti first noticed a bear huddled in a tree in their backyard on Sunday afternoon. Sitting beneath the tree: A...

Livingston residents were told to stay indoors after a black bear was spotted this morning roaming in backyards near the high school. The bear was first spotted roaming on Amherst Place near the Livingston High School complex just after 6:00 a.m. Dozens of police officers responded and began chasing the 200-pound animal as it moved through the largely residential area. They pursued it first behind the Cedar Commons senior citizen building, and then to Shrewsbury and Tremont avenues. The officers continued tracking the animal and by 7:30 a.m., it was again spotted a mile away on the eastern end of...

Six animal rights advocates, arrested in December during a protest at Wawayanda State Park on the final day of the 2005 black bear hunt, went on trial Tuesday in Vernon Municipal Court. The six -- Lynda Smith, Elenor Hoffman, William Crain, Catherine McCartney, Kristen Sondej and David Stewart -- are all charged with obstruction for allegedly jumping a plastic fence that park police had set up to corral demonstrators, then sitting down on the pavement before being led away in handcuffs. The trial began after all six pleaded not guilty before Municipal Court Judge C. William Bowkley Jr. The state...

VERNON, N.J. -- A township police officer fatally shot a 100-pound black bear after he and another officer responded to a woman's call that two bruins had broken into her kitchen. Margo Spilotras had just finished taking a shower when she heard crashing and crunching sounds coming from the back of her home around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Clad only in a towel, Spilotras ran to the kitchen and found two bears -- a 400-pound mother bear and one of her cubs -- had slid open a screen door and were inside the home. The mother bear fled out the door...

Animal rights extremists gone wild By Cam EdwardsNov 30, 2005 Animal rights activists are going to court to try and stop the New Jersey black bear hunt, scheduled to take place next week.  As much as I hate to do it, I applaud these activists for operating within the bounds of the law, even if the ideas they promote exist outside the bounds of common sense.    Of course, for every one of these activists who operate inside the law, there are others who have no qualms about violating the law; threatening violence, committing acts of vandalism, even advocating death...

WEST MILFORD — More than 100 demonstrators, including a few wearing bear costumes and carrying stuffed bears, protested Saturday on Route 23 at the corner of Canistear Road to oppose the upcoming bear hunt. Chanting "Kill the Hunt. Not the bears," and holding signs saying "Bullets are not science," the protesters stood on both sides of the highway encouraging motorists to honk their car horns in support. The six-day hunt will start Dec. 5 and was approved last week by state Environmental Commissioner Bradley Campbell as a method to control the state's bear population. The last bear hunt was two...

On November 14, 2005, DEP Commissioner Bradley M. Campbell approved the Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy for New Jersey. The document was drafted by the NJ Fish and Game Council and subsequently revised after extensive public comments and a public hearing. The policy meets the mandate and requirements established by the NJ Supreme Court in its most recent opinion on black bear management.

Supporters, foes get emotional over hunt A policy aimed at managing New Jersey's burgeoning black bear population drew 300 people last night, most of whom let their passions fly about the proposal's most emotional aspect: hunting the bruins. The policy was labeled everything from "careful science" to cheap propaganda during a public hearing at Cook College in New Brunswick. "Bear hunters want a bear rug on their floor and a bear head on their wall. That's what this is all about ... a trophy hunt," said Janet Borinsky of Short Hills. Agust Gudmundsson of Warren County countered that the growing...