FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, June 6, 1996
CONTACT: Mike Markarian, (301) 585-2591, MikeM@fund.org
TRENTON, NEW JERSEY -- Today, the New Jersey Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development heard testimony from interested parties on the management of the state's estimated 400 black bears. The Fund for Animals presented the following testimony:
SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
MR. MICHAEL MARKARIAN
DIRECTOR OF CAMPAIGNS
THE FUND FOR ANIMALS
JUNE 6, 1996
Recent decisions and statements by officials of the New Jersey Division of Fish, Game, and Wildlife (NJFGW) indicate its efforts to establish a black bear hunting season in the state. The impetus for such a decision was probably a result of the desire to reestablish a black bear hunt to satisfy sport hunters and as a fund raising mechanism, and due to the perceived need to hunt bears to reduce bear/human conflicts. Neither reason justifies the establishment of a bear hunt.
The NJFGW, despite its history of capitulating to hunting interests, has been entrusted with the management of New Jersey's wildlife on behalf of all citizens of the state. Unfortunately, the NJFGW, like most state wildlife agencies, puts far too much emphasis in meeting the desires and expectations of the sport hunting community while ignoring those citizens who do not hunt or who oppose sport hunting. In New Jersey, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, only 1.9 percent of state residents participated in sport hunting in 1991 while the remainder, or more than 98 percent, did not. The percentage of hunters has reportedly dropped to 1.3 percent in the last five years alone. With the minuscule fraction of hunters and the rapid decrease in hunting license sales, the NJFGW needs to recognize its non-hunting constituency and to enact wildlife management strategies based on the desires of the majority of New Jersey residents.
While there is no question that bear/human conflicts can occur, the cause of such conflicts is generally a human problem verses a bear problem. Human presence, activities, and behavior in black bear habitat is generally the cause of bear/human conflicts.
In New Jersey, as the human population in Passaic and Sussex Counties continues to grow, the amount of habitat for black bears continues to shrink to make way for new housing developments, shopping malls, business centers, roads, and other facilities. Under these circumstances, it is inevitable that bear/human conflicts will increase in frequency. Fortunately, there is an assortment of non-lethal techniques, many of which involve human behavior modification, which are effective in eliminating, reducing, and preventing such conflicts.
For an education campaign to be successful, persons who have experienced or may experience a conflict with a bear must recognize that they have an obligation and responsibility to learn to live with bears. Whether people live, work, or recreate in bear habitat, they must understand that they are occupying the bear's home -- the habitat the bear must use to survive. They must also understand that if a conflict occurs it is generally the fault of the human, not the bear.
Thus, if such conflict results in damage, this loss should be considered an acceptable consequence of residing in bear habitat. Just as a store owner in Newark or Trenton risks business losses due to crime, and a farmer risks business losses due to adverse weather, a beekeeper who lives and works in bear habitat should accept the risk of minor losses due to bear depredation. Such costs and conflicts can be reduced if those who live, work, and recreate in black bear habitat take the appropriate precautions to minimize their impact on the physical and behavioral well-being of the bear to avoid unnecessary conflicts. Some of these precautions include:
1. Become more knowledgeable about the biology and ecology of the black bear.
With the assistance of the NJFGW or appropriate bear experts, citizens should become more educated about the biology and ecology of black bears. Frequently, by simply increasing one's knowledge about a particular animal, there is a corresponding increase in appreciation, respect, and tolerance for that animal.
2. Learn about and implement the various non-lethal techniques to resolve conflicts.
With the assistance of the NJFGW or appropriate bear experts, citizens should become more knowledgeable about the wide assortment of non-lethal techniques and their proper use to reduce, eliminate, and prevent bear/human conflicts. Many states, including New Jersey, produce pamphlets on living with bears to educate people on how to live, work, and recreate safely in bear habitat. These pamphlets should be distributed widely in schools, libraries, post offices, motor vehicle departments, or other appropriate venues.
The technique or techniques to be used depends on the type of bear/human conflict occurring. Such conflicts can include bears getting into trash cans, damage to apiaries, damage to field crops, destruction of bird feeders, and damage to livestock. All of these conflicts and others not identified can be resolved using appropriate techniques and technology.
For example, beekeepers can use electrical fencing to eliminate bear depredation on beehives. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources donates electric fencing materials to any beekeeper who requests assistance, and New Jersey should consider such a program. Many western states install special bear-proof garbage cans at camp sites and parks, effectively stopping the attraction of bears to open food and trash. Most of the so-called "nuisance" complaints in New Jersey have apparently come from people with bird feeders in their backyards. The solution to such a problem is elementary: if you do not want bears in your backyard, do not leave food in the open. The enclosures to this testimony describe in further detail the techniques and technology available for eliminating, reducing, and preventing bear/human conflicts.
While human behavior is often the cause of a bear/human conflict, such conflicts can also be the result of climatic conditions which may affect natural food production and availability. Droughts, flooding, or the late arrival of Spring (which influenced bear/human conflicts in New Jersey this year), for example, can reduce, sometimes significantly, the availability of natural foods resulting in increased and expanded movements of bears in search of food. Under such conditions, the naturally timid bear is more likely to tolerate human presences when searching for food, increasing the likelihood of a conflict with people.
Though some bears, once acclimated to human food products, may continue to seek out such products, most bears will resume consuming natural foods once those foods are again available. Consequently, while an increase in bear/human conflicts during a year or over several consecutive years may be the result of an expanding bear and/or human population, it may also be the natural response to a climatic change and the reduced availability of natural foods. Under such conditions, tolerance, not killing, is the appropriate response.
If properly implemented, funded, and staffed, an aggressive public education campaign can successfully and substantially decrease the frequency of bear/human conflicts.
In contrast to an aggressive education campaign, hunting is not an effective approach to resolving bear/human conflicts. Hunting may, in fact, escalate such conflicts. Because of the territorial behavior exhibited by bears, it is biologically impossible for a bear population to overpopulate its habitat. This is one reason why Tom Beck, a black bear expert with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, has stated, "We hunt bears not because we have to, but because we want to."
Bear hunting, therefore, is purely a recreational pursuit and is not justified on scientific grounds. With fewer than 400 bears estimated to live in New Jersey, there is absolutely no biological justification for hunting such a small population.
Far from being a benign activity, hunting can result in enormous impacts to a bear population. Because the black bear is one of the slowest reproducing mammals in North America, the killing of any animals from a population, particularly a population of fewer than 400 animals, can result in significant impacts to the short and long-term viability of the bear population.
Moreover, the removal of bears, whose territorial behavior is indicative of a complex social structure, can disrupt this social structure and make a hunted bear population less stable than a non-hunted population. In hunted populations, productivity and cub survival is generally higher as compared to non-hunted populations. As a consequence, unlike the age structure of an non-hunted bear population which is skewed toward older bears, a hunted population is characterized by a higher proportion of cubs and sub-adults.
As sub-adult bears disperse from their mothers, they attempt to establish new territories. Since there are more sub-adults in a hunted verses non-hunted population, those who cannot locate suitable territory are more likely to occupy marginal habitats which are generally located closer to areas of human inhabitation. These bears, particularly young male bears, are most likely to come in contact with people. Thus, hunting will not solve, and may worsen, bear/human conflicts, by altering the average age of the bear population in favor of younger animals.
Even assuming that hunting was an appropriate mechanism to resolve bear/human conflicts, a general sport hunting season on bears would not be effective since there is no guarantee that the "nuisance" bear or bears would be killed. In fact, the hunters would end up killing more bears who do not cause "nuisance" complaints -- innocent bears who are given a death sentence.
For those rare occasions when a bear repeatedly causes serious damage to property, it is important to note that the NJFGW already has the authority to remove such animals, either through live capture, or in the worst case scenario of serious threat to public safety, killing. The need for such removals, which are rare to begin with, can be further reduced through the implementation of an aggressive public education program. Moreover, it is imperative that the NJFGW use this authority sparingly and only when absolutely necessary.
Human development in Passaic and Sussex Counties has increased exponentially over the past decade. Each new housing development, shopping mall, and mile of roadway results in less habitat available for the bears and greater fragmentation of the remaining habitat. As habitat is the key component to the long-term survival of any species, the continued erosion of black bear habitat in New Jersey will, in time, result in a decline in the number of bears living in the state.
While legislation on the state or county level could slow this development or set aside large expanses of habitat as sanctuaries for bears and other wildlife, in the near future development will continue. This ongoing loss of bear habitat in the state and its long-term implications to the future survival of New Jersey's bears must be considered as the debate on the appropriateness of hunting ensues. As the amount of habitat dwindles, and the number of bears decline, the detrimental impacts of establishing a black bear hunting season become even more severe.
The Fund completely supports progressive legislation such as A2016 in the Assembly to prohibit the sport hunting of black bears. If such legislation fails, The Fund encourages the Legislature to direct the NJFGW to establish a citizens advisory task force to study and recommend appropriate black bear management strategies for consideration by the NJFGW. The composition of the task force should include representatives from the interests affected by bear management and should accurately reflect the statewide proportion of hunters, non-hunters, and anti-hunters. Task force members should be given access to all reports and data about New Jersey's bears maintained by the NJFGW on which to rely when discussing black bear management options.
The successful passage of legislation to prohibit the sport hunting of black bears will force the NJFGW to become teachers rather than to make bears into targets. By educating residents and landowners who live, work, and recreate within black bear habitat on how to eliminate, reduce, and prevent bear/human conflicts, both bears and humans will benefit. The consequences of permitting the NJFGW to establish a bear hunting season, given the serious implications of hunting on the viability and social structure of such a small population of bears, are enormous. Please prevent the sport hunting of New Jersey's black bears.