Ramapo State Forest closed for second week after reports of aggressive bear
OCTOBER 13, 2015, 8:04 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015, 8:06 PM
BY JAMES M. O’NEILL
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The state has decided to keep Ramapo Mountain State Forest closed for a second consecutive week in what officials are calling an abundance of caution after a series of encounters between hikers and an aggressive bear in recent weeks.
Traps remain in place throughout the park that the state Department of Environmental Protection set to immobilize bears. One of those traps captured a black bear on Oct. 5, which the DEP then killed.
“We don’t know if it’s the right bear,” said DEP spokesman Bob Considine. “We do know that we had three accounts of a potentially aggressive bear following three different sets of hikers in two weeks and the bear that was caught was acting aggressively after the capture.”