Boo-Boo, Not Yogi

15 December 2003


New Jersey Bear Hunt -- Insoluble Problem

Last week saw the first legal bear hunt in New Jersey in 33 years. The state decided that 1 million acres should be turned over to hunters to help reduced the black bear population of the state. Animal lovers protested that the hunt was unnecessary, while the hunters claimed they were keeping nature in balance. Both sides were right and wrong, but the reality is there is no solution to the problem.

People unfamiliar with local geography are always surprised by the varied wildlife in New Jersey, a state that suffers as the butt of no end of New Yorkers' jokes. Much of this has to do with the industrialized bit of the state just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. However, a 30-minute drive takes one into an almost-pristine, almost-wilderness. Rabbits, deer and bear abound. The rabbits are harmless, the deer are cute, and the bear will eat the garbage off one's porch. Incidents of bears breaking into homes are not as uncommon as the average householder would like.

And so the hunt. Reducing the bear population is not inherently a bad thing from an ecological stand-point. Too many means a reduced amount of prey and forage (bears being omnivorous). Over-population can damage the environment so much that it winds up unable to sustain the "normal" population longer-term. Moreover, some of the New Jersey hunters have a very Native American attitude. Said one, "I plan to eat it. And wear the fur. And the bones will make good buttons."

This, of course, is red meat to the pro-bear lobby, who argue that sterilization is better. They have a point since sterilization will reduce the population, eventually. For several years, though, even if every bear in the state were rendered unable to breed, there would be too many bears in New Jersey. And there is the question of reliability. Human birth control is still imperfect; in ursine cases, it is all the more problematic.

A solution does not exist. Humans moved into where bears live, and they aren't about to move out. Thus, the species share an ecosystem and must clash from time to time. Muddling along is the best that one can achieve. There are lessons in this for inter-human relationships.

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