N.J. Supreme Court Tells Trophy Hunters: Not in Our State

The New Jersey Supreme court knocked down a lawsuit by trophy hunters who sought to force the state to hold a bear hunt this month. The court's decision will spare hundreds of bears from the gun, in what would have been another unscrupulous hunt for heads and hides.

Not a Tradition

After being driven to the brink of extinction by habitat loss and trophy hunters, the state's protected black bear population rebounded from a mere 100 animals in the 1970s to approximately 1,500 today. They were protected from sport hunting for 33 years.

But in 2003, the state opened trophy hunting once again, which resulted in the killing of 323 animals, including a young bear cub who was shot in the woods and wandered onto a highway during a morning workday commute. After finding that the black bear population had been grossly overestimated, the state canceled the hunt in 2004, but it resumed in 2005 amidst public outrage. Last year, another 298 bears were killed.

New Jersey Says "No"

Gov. Jon Corzine and Commissioner Lisa Jackson received thousands of messages from HSUS members and others opposed to the bear hunt asking that they halt the unnecessary slaughter. Both recently declared that they could not sanction a black bear hunt this year because non-lethal alternatives had not been adequately implemented.

"Killing bears for their heads and hides is inhumane, scientifically reckless and bad management policy," said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of The HSUS. "State leaders are right to offer a different approach. We applaud Gov. Corzine, Commissioner Jackson and the New Jersey courts for this humane and sensible decision."

Extremist trophy hunters took the issue all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court, demanding that the state immediately overturn prior rulings and allow them to obtain their trophies in a hunt originally scheduled for Dec. 4 - 9. The court said no, finding that hunters would, in fact, not suffer "irreparable injury" if they were not allowed to hunt bears this year.

The Extreme Trophy Hunting Lobby

Arizona-based Safari Club International, Ohio-based U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, and other trophy hunting groups were behind the court battle to force New Jersey to hold a bear hunt. Safari Club International is one of the most extreme trophy hunting groups. The group consistently lobbies for their right to shoot endangered species for trophies and adamantly supports shooting tame animals behind fences in canned hunts.

The U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance works to allow commercial trapping and to overturn longstanding prohibitions on sport hunting of species such as mourning doves and black bears in states where they have been protected from sport hunting for decades. Trophy hunters who wanted to kill bears in New Jersey have shown their true colors by aligning themselves with such extreme anti-conservation organizations.

A Trophy Hunt, Nothing More

The argument made by hunters that a bear hunt is intended to reduce bear-human conflicts is a smokescreen meant to hide their true agenda. New Jersey's bear hunt is nothing more than a trophy hunt which supplies individuals with a head for their wall or a hide for their floor.

Hunting does nothing to reduce bear-human conflicts because it does not target the "problem" bears who live around urban areas, but rather targets bears in wilderness areas who seldom have contact with humans. Added Markarian, "Shooting bears at random in an attempt to reduce problems with bears is like shooting into a crowded room to control crime. It simply doesn't work."

Non-lethal alternatives such as humane aversive conditioning have proved highly effective at reducing bear-human conflicts.

See the Video

New Jersey Bear Hunt

Bear Baiting

Bear Hounding

Related Links

Urban Wildlife—Our Wild Neighbors

Black Bears

Black Bears and People in New Jersey

Solving Problems with Black Bears

Decision to Hunt NJ Bears Has No Scientific Basis, Says The HSUS