| Author |
Message |
    
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 4950
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 1:44 pm: | 
|
Bear on the loose in Livingston
Police in Livingston have issued an alert to area residents to stay indoors after a large black bear was spotted near the high school early this morning.
Capt. Craig Handschuch said the reverse 911 alert was activated shortly after 6 a.m. when the bear was seen roaming on Amherst Place near the Livingston High School complex.
Some 20 police responded and began chasing the 200 pound animal as it moved through the largely residential area - first behind the Cedar Commons senior citizen building then to nearby Shrewsbury and Tremont avenues.
Handschuch said by officers continued tracking the animal and by 7:30 a.m. it was again spotted a mile away on the eastern end of the township.
Handschuch the animal was tracked to an area west of Shrewsbury Drive, a connector which runs off Route 280. The area was cordoned off as police officers and the animal control officer wait with the tranquilizer gun.
"We have hoping that he climbs a tree just sit still somewhere in the bushes that we can tranquilize it," handschuch said. Shrewsbury is situated about a mile from the highway.
The area where the bear is located is considered a bear exclusion zone. The policy is currently under debate.
|
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 11463
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 2:46 pm: |
|
LOL, love it.
I have been saying for the last couple of years it is only a matter of time before bears make it into South Mountain Reservation. This poor bear didn't quite make it!
Black bears are not overly aggresive unless they feel threatened (especially if they have cubs). This guy probably is plenty scared. I am glad, I will admit, that he headed northeast and not southeast. If he had headed towards Northfield Avenue he may have ended up in the woods behind our house on the Livingston border. We have been enjoying the wildlife, but a bear might be a little much. 
Anybody have a pack of hounds? They will tree that bugger in a New York minute.
|
Dogbert
Citizen
Username: Dogbert
Post Number: 100
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 3:59 pm: |
|
Uh oh, they've been spotted in Maplewood. Looks like a whole bear family!
 |
Pamela
Citizen
Username: Pamela
Post Number: 36
Registered: 7-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 4:03 pm: |
|
Pretty funny Dogbert. I just hope the kids don't try to sneak into the Maplewood school system. |
Cynicalgirl
Citizen
Username: Cynicalgirl
Post Number: 2747
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 4:34 pm: |
|
Dogbert, I really like that picture. Quite a nice family. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14172
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 4:37 pm: |
|
The reservation is surrounded by miles and miles of suburban sprawl. How in the world did a bear reach the reservation? Somehow, I'm picturing dormant spores buried in the soil, giving birth to a bear.
|
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 7405
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 4:50 pm: |
|
How did a bear reach the Reserve? Most likely on foot.
We have to remember that we share this planet with a number of species and more than a few are to be found in our area.
Anyone know if the bear is still on the loose? |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14175
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 4:55 pm: |
|
Yeah, on foot, I know. But, like, on the shoulder of I-78? Well, no.
I can't even picture a bear lamenting the lack of food at the Delaware Water Gap and trudging through 65 miles of asphalt and concrete, believing that he'll eventually reach another area of greenery. Something must have motivated him, but I don't know what. And how did he travel whatever distance it was without anyone noticing him? It's a lot to ponder!
|
Smoochie
Citizen
Username: Smoochie
Post Number: 54
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 5:14 pm: |
|
The bear headed through Bel Air, he/she is belived to be near the WO /Liv border. The police have stopped looking for now.... |
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 11466
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 5:31 pm: |
|
There are plenty of bears in the area north of 78 and west of 287. They are constantly expanding their territory. 20 years ago they were virtually extinct in New Jersey. With the extensive park system it is pretty easy for them to travel east. Most likely this guy is a yearling whose mother ran him off when she gave birth to new cubs and he is looking for his own territory to stake out and find a nice girl bear and settle down.
Smoochie, don't tell me that. I will have to get out the shotgun. |
Smoochie
Citizen
Username: Smoochie
Post Number: 55
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 6:25 pm: |
|
I think it's just a cub. They showed it in channel 7 this morning; said it was 4 ft. Please just get out the tranquilizer gun.
Bob K, Do you live in the area?
 |
gettinoffadaroof
Citizen
Username: Upondaroof
Post Number: 686
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 6:36 pm: |
|
" And how did he travel whatever distance it was without anyone noticing him? It's a lot to ponder!"
Not for the bear! |
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 11468
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 7:18 pm: |
|
Smoochie, I think the bear is up north of Route 10 near Route 280. We are further south off Northfield near the Livingston border. Actually, since I predicted bears in the res I am just having fun with this, or what passes for fun in my warped and aged brain. |
Smoochie
Citizen
Username: Smoochie
Post Number: 56
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 7:41 pm: |
|
Bob K,
I got that you weren't running around a la Elmer Fudd with a shot gun. I couldn't find a sleeping smiley face! The bear is near MY neighborhood! I'm off 10 on the Liv border. |
ess
Citizen
Username: Ess
Post Number: 1915
Registered: 11-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 9, 2006 - 8:41 pm: |
|
Yes, and if he started to chase you, would you run with a bear behind?????
Hee hee. |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 4969
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 1:03 am: |
|
More on the bear
Second bruin enters no-bear zone
A black bear wandered into New Jersey’s “Bear Exclusion Zone” today, becoming the second one in four days to enter the area, as wildlife authorities reaffirmed the state’s rule to kill bruins that make trouble in urban communities.
The timing was uncanny. Residents of Livingston’s Consul Road and Shrewsbury Drive awoke to find the approximately 250-pound bruin ambling past yards and schools in the Essex County township as the state’s 11-member Fish and Game Council gathered in Upper Freehold.
The council was re-examining a “no tolerance” rule for bruins caught in urban communities after the capture and killing of a 225-pound bear in Trenton on Saturday ignited controversy over the policy.
But more than seven hours after the Essex County bear was first sighted, sending police racing up streets and news helicopters hovering overhead, it vanished into a large wooded area behind West Orange’s newly built Liberty Middle School. The bear won this time, but the victory may be short-lived.
The council unanimously voted to preserve the state’s Bear Exclusion Zone, or BEZ, which runs from the northeast, down the Jersey shore, across central New Jersey and down the lower Delaware River coast.
“It’s unfortunate, but we don’t have a place to relocate these bears. No one wants them,” Ernest Hahn, the council’s chairman, said in explaining state biologists had been relocating urban bears to parks and forests until neighboring towns bitterly complained last year.
“It’s not just complaints. It’s the fact that the habitat is full with bears,” Hahn said. “This is the time of year that larger males chase out younger males, and if you relocate a chased-out bear to Sussex County, it’s just going to get chased out again — and get into trouble again.”
But he and other wildlife officials emphasized a death sentence for the bears is not automatic in the 6-month-old rule.
In fact, Hahn said he will ask state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson to send letters to local police departments clarifying that a BEZ town can give a free pass to a bruin if local officials believe it can move through without problems — like the Essex County bear.
In Essex County, people were more astonished than concerned about the bear, which sent police and animal-control officers racing across Livingston and West Orange in a fruitless search to trap it, while news media helicopters hovered overhead.
Shortly after the initial 6 a.m. sightings at Amherst Place near Livingston High School, police started sending out a reverse-911 call, alerting people to the visitor.
“I didn’t think it could happen in Livingston,” said Cindy Richard, one of the first to spot the bruin as it walked through her Livingston neighborhood.
Contributed by Brian T. Murray and Philip Read
|
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 4970
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 1:05 am: |
|
Dogbert
GREAT picture! |
Hank Zona
Supporter
Username: Hankzona
Post Number: 5571
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 7:24 am: |
|
The bear, or a bear, was seen in the Vailsburg section of Newark this morning..does that mean it strolled down South Orange Ave. last night? It may have been looking for a diner or supermarket and was frustrated to only find the "Coming Soon" signs. Or maybe it explains the rash of missing pet posts on MOL.
My son picked up on it right away listening to the news...its obviously a Newark Bear. |
Soda
Supporter
Username: Soda
Post Number: 3913
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 9:03 am: |
|
|
bklyntonj
Citizen
Username: Bklyntonj
Post Number: 702
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 12:45 pm: |
|
Does anyone know if they caught Yogi?
Last I heard he was spotted by Seton Hall this morning. |
MeAndTheBoys
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 3713
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 12:49 pm: |
|
Haven't been able to find anything on his current whereabouts, although I think they said he's still in Newark on WBGO just a little while ago. This from NJ.com: "Newark is part of the state's Bear Exclusion Zone, and the bear will be shot if found."
Poor bear. Guess s/he didn't get that memo. |
Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 1928
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 1:46 pm: |
|
Even if they catch him there is no guarantee that he will live. Probably best that they shoot him on sight. Better than it living a slow death in a cage before it dies just like what happened to Hal the coyote that was captured in Central Park. |
Fabulouswalls
Citizen
Username: Fabulouswalls
Post Number: 67
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 1:46 pm: |
|
Shot dead by police in Irvington. |
MeAndTheBoys
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 3719
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 1:52 pm: |
|
Boy, that really makes me sad.
BTW, Hal the Coyote was sick. I think it was parvo. He did not die as a result of being captured. And he was only being held while they tried to find a place to relocate him to, whether that be a sanctuary of some sort, or some wooded area far, far away. He would have died anyway. And they wouldn't keep the bear in a cage, they would tranquilize it and remove it to an appropriate remote location and release it. |
Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 1929
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 2:14 pm: |
|
Meand, are you sure about Hal? I couldn't find any articles (I looked) that said that he was going to die from parvo. What I saw was that they didn't relocate him after very many days and that he died in captivity. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14207
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 2:32 pm: |
|
I heard he was sick from eating rat poison or something like it, and the stress of capitivity exacerbated his condition and killed him. But he would have died in a while anyway, if not captivated.
|
bklyntonj
Citizen
Username: Bklyntonj
Post Number: 703
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 2:48 pm: |
|
Oh, just shoot the BLACK bear. Now if it were a WHITE bear... |
MeAndTheBoys
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 3723
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 2:49 pm: |
|
Tom, you're right, it was rat poison in combination with heartworms and stress that killed him. Poor puppy!
This from The Smoking Gun:
What Killed Hal
Necropsy: Central Park coyote "seriously ill" with heartworms
APRIL 7--A necropsy on Hal the coyote has concluded that several factors--including heartworm infection and internal bleeding caused by his ingestion of rodent poison--contributed to the death of the former Central Park resident. A New York State Department of Environmental Conservation statement also notes that the animal's preexisting poor health "coupled with the stress of captivity and handling during the release" resulted in Hal's demise. A report on the necropsy by DEC's Dr. Ward Stone, a wildlife pathologist, can be found below. Hal, who made headlines last month when he was discovered living in Manhattan, died March 30 as he was being prepared for release into a forest north of New York City. Stone's report, which refers to Hal as a "greatly-compromised coyote," notes that, as the one-year-old was readied for repatriation, he was "taken from his carrier and held with a catch-pole and the mouth was held shut with an ace bandage wrapped around his snout." While Hal's "nose was clear for breathing," a few minutes into the procedure, "the coyote stopped breathing. This was during ear-tagging. Resuscitation attempts failed."
Here's a link to the page if you want to read the report from the DEC:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0407062hal1.html |
Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 1933
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 3:57 pm: |
|
Seemed to me that he was held in captivity too long as well as mistreatment contributed to his demise. Certainly if he wasn't in captivity he would have lived longer even if he had heartworms and internal bleeding. |
MeAndTheBoys
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 3724
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 4:14 pm: |
|
Rat poison is generally fatal. He was not mistreated. |
MeAndTheBoys
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 3725
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 4:15 pm: |
|
Poor baby.
IRVINGTON, N.J. (AP) Moments before an animal control officer could subdue it with a tranquilizer gun Wednesday, a 300-pound black bear that had been wandering urban areas of north Jersey reared up on its hind legs and appeared ready to charge police officers, who then killed it with repeated shotgun blasts.
As police officers crouched nearby, seven loud shots rang out and the bear slumped to the ground in the small backyard where it had been cornered after two days of rambling east from the suburbs of Livingston to the inner cities of Newark and Irvington _ some of the most densely populated areas of the state.
The bear shooting came only days after a 225-pound bear was caught in downtown Trenton, prompting state biologists to kill it. It was the first time a bear had been killed as part of the state's no-tolerance policy to bruins in densely populated areas.
The bear killed in Irvington was the second.
Nervous police officers in Irvington had to chase three or four young children from nearby backyards, and were growing more worried that more than 1,000 neighborhood children would soon be walking home from school.
Jim Osorio, a Morristown animal control officer who had been called in to assist, was in position to shoot the bruin with a tranquilizer dart and was preparing to pull the trigger when it reared up on its hind legs and assumed an aggressive position, he said.
``We were going to tranquilize the animal and try to relocate him,'' he said. ``It did not happen that way. I tried to save the animal.''
But when the bear reared up, police had no choice but to kill it, said Osorio, who gave the order to shoot. |
bklyntonj
Citizen
Username: Bklyntonj
Post Number: 704
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 4:16 pm: |
|
Oh let's just ignore another BLACK was gunned down by police huh? |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 7407
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 5:20 pm: |
|
Bklyntonj:
When was the last time a polar bear was spotted in NJ? Had this been a polar bear, s/he would most likely have met with the same fate. |
Just The Aunt
Supporter
Username: Auntof13
Post Number: 4982
Registered: 1-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 5:59 pm: |
|
bklyn
Real nice comments. NOT! |
Jersey_Boy
Citizen
Username: Jersey_boy
Post Number: 783
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 - 10:11 pm: |
|
Bklyntonj,
J.B. |
Ima Perplecks
Citizen
Username: Victor
Post Number: 22
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 9:15 am: |
|
All I saw on tv was a petrified
mother bear cowering in a corner
of a yard while a tranquilizer
was on its way and an officer
that couldn't wait and didn't
look like he was under any
immediate threat and shot
the bear. |
MeAndTheBoys
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 3728
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 9:19 am: |
|
Where did you "see" this?
|
Case
Citizen
Username: Case
Post Number: 1532
Registered: 2-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 9:28 am: |
|
Maybe you don't see polar bears in Irvington because the polar bears have had all the advantages in this country for the last 200 years. Maybe if the polar bears had been systematically kept down, maybe if standardized testing wasn't biased towards cold-climate bears, maybe then you'd see more of them being hassled by the police.
Remember, I said maybe. Probably not... I mean, you know, they're bears.... but I guess it's possible. |
Ima Perplecks
Citizen
Username: Victor
Post Number: 23
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 10:21 am: |
|
I believe it was channel seven.
They showed the first shot.
There were many more.
Very upsetting. |
MeAndTheBoys
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 3731
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 10:39 am: |
|
Wow, that does sound awful and upsetting. Glad I didn't see it. Yet another reason why I never watch the evening news.
Have to say, none of what happened surprises me much. Poor bear was really in the wrong place at the wrong time. |
bklyntonj
Citizen
Username: Bklyntonj
Post Number: 705
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 11:21 am: |
|
Joan & JTA, how's that kool-aid? |
Ima Perplecks
Citizen
Username: Victor
Post Number: 24
Registered: 6-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 11:50 am: |
|
If I remember correctly, the reason I was
upset was that the police said one thing
but the tv news report said that is not
what they saw...and then they played it. |
MeAndTheBoys
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 3732
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 12:20 pm: |
|
Seems "our" bear made the "Video Headlines" on my Comcast homepage. Luckily, they didn't show the shooting.
BTW, Ima, it wouldn't surprise me to learn urban cops "over-reacted" to the alleged threat of the bear. |
Alleygater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 1956
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 12:27 pm: |
|
MeAnd: so you wouldn't be surprised to learn that urban cops "over-reacted" with a bear, but you fault me for being suspicious about Hal and believing that he died prematurely? |
MeAndTheBoys
Citizen
Username: Meandtheboys
Post Number: 3733
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, May 11, 2006 - 2:49 pm: |
|
Don't understand why you're trying to pick a fight with me Ally. Hal was being handled by trained wildlife professionals. He had consumed rat poison prior to being captured and was severely compromised as a result of heartworms. The stress of his experience only served to exacerbate his condition.
I hardly think Irvington cops are trained to handle wildlife (at least of the animal variety). And I doubt any of them have any idea about bear behavior and what it implies.
And I wasn't "faulting" you for anything, just trying to clarify the facts. |
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page