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January 23, 2025How wild does New Jersey wildlife get?
Lions? No. Tigers? None. Bears? Oh, yes! Black bears to be precise. New Jersey is fortunate to have a healthy population of these highly intelligent, impressive creatures that have been fascinating humans for thousands of years.
So what are these furry neighbors up to round about now? We might imagine bears hibernating in a cave this time of year, soundly sleeping until the sweet winds of spring awaken them. However, it turns out that New Jersey’s black bears are not true hibernators!
Starting in December, males and non-pregnant females retreat to their dens to enter a state of dormancy called torpor, where they undergo astonishing physiological changes. (Pregnant females will typically have entered their dens around the end of October). During torpor, body temperature dips, and heart rate slows. No bio breaks needed for these sleeping beauties during this chapter. They live off of their own body fat, metabolizing up to 20 percent of their weight to maintain bone and muscle mass. Torpor allows animals to survive when weather is severe and food sources are limited.
Torpor is not the same as hibernation. Hibernation is voluntary and – depending on the species – can last for weeks or months. Torpor is involuntary, shorter, and allows animals to wake up if the need arises. In mid-January, pregnant female black bears will awaken from their torpid state to give birth. Right now across New Jersey, mother black bears are gearing up to birth an average of three cubs, though litters can occasionally include up to six.
Black bear cubs are born fuzzy and blind. They will not open their eyes for the first month, depending entirely on mother’s milk for protein, fat, and nutrients. Cubs typically weigh only eight to 16 ounces when born but they grow fast – by this time next year, they will weigh up to 80 pounds. For the first 18 months of their lives, they will follow mother bear around, learning how to hunt and stay safe before setting out on their own.
Black bears – which can also appear brown, blonde, white, or gray-blue – are typically solitary animals. They are the largest remaining native terrestrial mammal in New Jersey, and have been since the extirpation of native elk following European colonization. Adult females average 185 pounds and adult males can weigh 400 pounds or more.
These bears play a vital role in thriving ecosystems and are an integral part of our state’s natural heritage. About 100 years ago, black bears nearly went extinct in New Jersey from habitat loss and indiscriminate killing. As European colonizers continued clearing forests for farming, lumber, and towns, black bears lost their connected habitat patches that provided sufficient safety. They were also killed by farmers looking to protect livestock and crops from hungry predators. This practice went on until 1953, when the New Jersey Fish and Game Council certified black bears as a game species, which afforded certain protections to bears. Those regulations led to a bounce-back.
Dave Golden, Assistant Commissioner of New Jersey Fish and Wildlife, says that the population of black bears in New Jersey these days is extremely healthy. Over the last 35 years or so, the Garden State’s black bear population has been increasing and expanding its range from the forested areas of northwestern New Jersey.
Come March and April, black bears will begin to emerge from their dens to climb, swim, and romp throughout all of New Jersey’s 21 counties. The idea of sharing the landscape with any kind of bear may sound a little scary to some. But, by nature, black bears are wary of people and attacks are incredibly rare. Their prime habitats consist of mixed hardwood forests, dense swamps, and forested wetlands, but in parts of the state, people and bears live close together.
These opportunistic eaters will go for what is available, supplementing their natural diet of berries and other fruit, nuts, skunk cabbage, grasses, bulbs, insects, bird eggs, small mammals, and carrion. But bears noshing on human food often leads to trouble, especially if it becomes a habit – making people view bears as a nuisance or a danger and eroding support for protecting and coexisting with them.
“Black bears belong in New Jersey,” says Golden, “We want to maintain a healthy wild bear population and we need New Jerseyans to help us with that.” That means doing everything we can to keep New Jersey’s black bears wild, because if they associate people with food, they can become bold and less fearful of us. Intentionally feeding black bears in the state of New Jersey is both dangerous and illegal. “If the public can do their part and not feed bears – intentionally or unintentionally – we can keep bears wild in New Jersey and appreciate them from an appropriate distance,” says Golden.
Using bear-resistant garbage containers, feeding pets indoors, and using responsible measures when camping, hiking, and fishing – like storing food and other sweet-smelling items in the car – are all ways to keep bears away from human food sources. We also need to educate ourselves about how to behave should we cross paths with a bear. There are a number of helpful resources, like this website where you can go to learn more about what to do if you encounter a black bear: https://dep.nj.gov/njfw/bears/bear-encounters/
New Jersey is a densely populated, built-up state but it is also a wild place of beauty and natural abundance. To keep both bears and humans safe, we must maintain a bright line between domestic and wild and give bears the space and respect they deserve. If we do, we can peacefully share the Garden State with this awesome wild creature. For information about preserving New Jersey’s land and natural resources, visit the New Jersey Conservation Foundation website at www.njconservation.org or contact me at info@njconservation.org.