In recent days, he’d become almost a familiar sight, trudging the street, checking trash cans for easy snacks.
“He’s been around here for a long time,’’ said resident John Rondi. “He hasn’t been aggressive. He’s been curious. He’s been taking garbage.’’
Until Wednesday, the bear hadn’t caused any harm in the suburban neighborhood he’d made his home.
But that changed fatally after nightfall, when he wandered into a fenced yard a few blocks away on Lyle Avenue after 11 p.m. and killed the 16–year border collie-Corgi mix — coincidentally named “Bear.” The attack prompted a police hunt through neighborhoods off Preakness Avenue the next day, put residents on alert and kept the township’s elementary school children inside for recess.
The search ended after police officers Robert Franco and Jack Belanger traced bear tracks through the snow from Lyle Avenue to 4 Fox Hill Drive, where residents had reported seeing the animal the night before. They found the bear asleep under the deck, Capt. Paul Ireland said.
Authorities notified members of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife Bear Response team who were in town looking for the bear. The wildlife staff tranquilized the bear as police stood guard with shotguns. Wildlife staff member Chuck Sliker said the bear was awake when he approached, but was not alarmed by people. Sliker shot the tranquilizer dart at the bear, which then fell asleep.
Six officers helped state staff carry the bear from the yard around 2 p.m. and load it into a pickup to be taken to a state facility. It was euthanized soon after.
Nirmeen Ibrahim, who lives at the home where the bear had been sleeping, said she had seen it walking through the neighborhood recently but had no idea it was living under her backyard deck.
“I feel bad for the bear, but it could have been dangerous,” said Ibrahim, who was home with her infant daughter. “I’m glad it’s taken care of. I’m worried about the kids here. … It’s kind of scary.”
The incident occurred as the state’s Fish and Game Council is to unveil the new Black Bear Management Policy. The Council will meet Tuesday and is expected to introduce the policy, a first step before the state can consider holding another bear hunt after a moratorium of several years.
The policy will contained an updated population estimate based on a DNA study by East Stroudsberg State University. It also will explain the state’s strategies for dealing with bears, including public education, garbage can maintenance, and hunting.
The dog’s owner, Marian Szal, said she was relieved to learn that the bear had been caught and would cause no further harm.
Szal said she had let the dog out one last time before bedtime. When Bear did not bark to come back in, Szal looked out a glass door and saw what seemed like the back of the bruin on all fours.
She rushed upstairs, and she and her husband shone flashlights through the door. When officers arrived, the couple went outside and called for the dog, in vain. Police followed bear tracks and found the dog dead on a hill near Szal’s property.
“You hear about bear sightings, but not in your own yard,” Szal said. “It’s a tremendous loss. He [Bear] had a beautiful disposition, and he was great with everyone.”
Szal said her family is devastated by the loss of the gentle dog they adopted as a puppy from the Wayne animal shelter 16 years ago. He was named Bear because the fuzzy, black puppy looked just like a cub.
“He made our day every day,” Szal said. “He was a gentle, gentle soul, very smart, very well mannered, very affectionate.”
State officials said the black bear was killed because, in killing the dog, it was involved in a so-called Category 1 incident, exhibiting aggressive behavior.
The dog apparently died of a broken neck, which suggests the bear either took a swipe at it, or clenched it with his jaws, said Larry Herrighty, assistant director for the Division of Fish and Wildlife. He called the incident “an unprovoked attack.”
But bird feeders in the yard might have attracted the bear, he said.
And the recent mild weather might have stirred this bear to activity. Because of the state’s mild winters, bears in New Jersey don’t hibernate. They enter a winter dormancy called torpor and can rouse to forage for food.
“In another month, bears will be up and become very active,” Herrighty said.
Residents of Wayne, which have had numerous bear sightings in the past, should take heed and maintain trash correctly, he said.
