Problèmes d'ours noirs au New-Jersey...

[Animal 0]

Rambunctious black bears causing trouble in New Jersey
Attacks are rare, but sightings are common as the curious animals invade the suburbs
By SHAWN MCCARTHY

Saturday, August 27, 2005 Page A2

NEW YORK -- Joe Schetting, a lieutenant in the Sparta, N.J., sheriff's
office, gets more calls about black bears than he does about burglars. And
the only time he discharged a firearm in the line of duty was to take down a
delinquent bruin that had swatted a three-year-old girl playing in her front
yard.

Sparta, an affluent north Jersey township of 18,000 people, lies just 70
kilometres from the George Washington Bridge into New York. Many of its
residents commute into the city daily, and then retreat to the wooded
fringes of suburbia for a more peaceful life.

But Sparta, like a growing number of suburbs in the most densely populated
U.S. state, has a black bear problem.

Though attacks are rare, sightings are common even in more established
suburbs; garbage is routinely pilfered and people are afraid. Parents are
reluctant to allow their children to play outside or to leave pets in their
yards.



The New Jersey Fish and Game Council is proposing an answer to the unwelcome
ursine intrusions. As part of a broader control program, the
hunter-dominated council has recommended that, for only the second time in
35 years, New Jersey allow a black bear hunt this December.

The decision now rests with Bradley Campbell, commissioner of the state's
Department of Environmental Protection and, quite possibly, with the courts.
Mr. Campbell overruled the council and rejected a hunt last year after
allowing one in 2003. Hunters groups took him to court last year, but the
New Jersey State Supreme Court rejected a hunt unless it was part of a more
sweeping program.

This year, Mr. Campbell said he will make a decision only after a series of
public meetings next month.

Once scarce, bears now number in the thousands in the state, and have been
spotted in all 21 counties. No one agrees on exact numbers and there is no
official estimate, but opponents of the hunt say the figure is no more than
1,500 while proponents estimate it has swelled to 3,400.

Anti-hunt campaigners say it will do little to control nuisance bears,
especially since hunters will be limited to rural settings where the bears
pose less of a problem. In 2003, hunters bagged 328 bears, though they were
limited to three northwestern counties.

"Trying to control nuisance problems with a general hunt is no more
effective than trying to control crime by shooting into a crowd," said Lyn
Rogers, a bear expert from Minnesota who has consulted on the New Jersey
situation.

In such a densely populated state, he said, "the hunt would be more
dangerous than the bears."

Proponents note New Jersey's neighbours, Pennsylvania and New York, both
allow bear hunting. "Bears, quite frankly, are causing a number of
interactions that are not desirable," said Ernest Hahn, chairman of the Fish
and Game Council.

Lt. Schetting says he understands the push to cull the population. Just last
week, three bears -- a sow and two large cubs -- startled his wife by
appearing on their deck in a nearby subdivision.

"I don't have kids, but my neighbours do, and yeah, it's pretty scary for
them," he said in an interview.

Two years ago, he had to put a bear down after it had knocked a child over,
though she was not seriously hurt. "Was it the bear's fault? No, the bear's
just being a bear. But when you have so many running around in a populated
area, you get problems."

So far this year, his department has had 177 calls about nuisance bears,
and, six times, officers have had to "condition" one by firing buckshot at
its rump, hoping the blast would persuade it to avoid human company.

The sheriff's department is also trying to condition Sparta residents by
teaching people to properly dispose of their garbage, and how to react when
they do spot a bear.

Statewide, there have been 677 damage and nuisance complaints involving
bears so far this year, up from 424 last year.

Last month, in High Point State Park in the wooded northwest corner of the
state, a female black bear tugged at a sleeping bag with a camper inside
before being chased off. It was later captured and killed.

But Mr. Rogers plays down the danger, saying there have been only 52 people
mauled to death by black bears in North America in the past century, and
none in New Jersey.

For every person killed by a black bear, he says, 45 die from dog attacks,
120 from bee stings and 60,000 due to homicide.

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Citation :

For every person killed by a black bear, he says, 45 die from dog attacks,
120 from bee stings and 60,000 due to homicide.

Intéressante conclusion à laquelle manque le nombre d'ours abattus annuellement par des tueurs d'ours.