photo from Ridgewood Police
April 13,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. , Ridgewood Police with the help of Fish and wildlife officials tranquilized a bear found roaming through the Village in a sign that bear-sighting season is here.
Chief John M. Ward ,”I would like to thank Bergen County, Glen Rock and Ho Ho Kus Police Departments, TYCO animal control and NJ Fish & Game for their assistance in the tracking, containment and capture of the bear. Additionally I would like to thank Ridgewood Fire, Emergency Services, and OEM for their valuable assistance with notification of the public and helping to secure the perimeter, area sports fields and schools during the incident.
Finally I would like to thank our residents for their cooperation and understanding which allowed us to deal with the situation as quickly and safely as possible. “
Authorities speculate that the 175-pound male black bear that was seen Saturday morning in Ridgewood,may have been the same one seen in Hawthorne Friday night.
Experts tell The Bergen Record that bear sightings pick up at this time of year as the bruins emerge from hibernating to look for food. Males can roam as far as 50 miles from their dens.
Bears have been seen all around New Jersey but sightings have been mainly concentrated in the northwest part of the state.
New Jersey hosts a state-sanctioned bear hunt that has killed about 1,900 bears since 2010 and the state has proposed expanding the hunt in coming years.