NJ bear hunt to begin Monday

TRENTON, N.J. -- A judge on New Jersey's highest court has refused to block a black bear hunt scheduled to begin Monday.

The Animal Protection League of New Jersey and the Bear Education and Resource Group had asked the court to issue a stay that would have stopped the six-day hunt, the state's first in five years, before it started.

But Supreme Court Justice Edwin Stern turned down that request in an order issued Saturday afternoon. It came a day after an appeals court refused to block the hunt, saying the groups' claims lacked merit.

Environmental regulators insist the hunt is needed to control a growing bear population now estimated at 3,400.

A hunt in seven northwestern counties is expected to reduce the number by 300 to 700 bears. It is part of the state Department of Environmental Protection's bear management policy, which the animal activists claimed was improperly developed.

The appellate panel, though, had found the hunt to be "a safe, legal and responsible use of wildlife resources, as well as a legitimate and effective means to control overabundant game species in a cost-effective manner."

Hunting is used to manage and control the black bear population in at least 29 other states, including Pennsylvania and New York, the ruling noted.

DEP officials had expressed confidence their position would be upheld.

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