We need a bear hunt
18/09/07 07:23
Posted from the Daily Record newsroom Last week's bear attack on a sheep in Denville was considered unusual by all involved. And it probably was.
Here are the facts: A 300-pound bear scaled a wire fence and dragged a large sheep into the woods. The sheep was badly injured and had to be destroyed. The bear was found and killed, which is standard procedure for a problem bear.
The farmer, Jimmy DiGuiseppi, made his point this way: "If you lose a sheep or two, you buy another one. (But) we have an awful lot of children up here. That's the thing that disturbs me."
We're not alarmists and we know full well that no human being has been killed by a bear in New Jersey for more than 100 years.
Our concern is that as the bear population grows, more human/bear interaction is bound to occur. That could be a dangerous prospect.
We think a bear hunt this winter to control the population would be a wise move. Unfortunately, the Corzine administration opposes such a hunt. We think it's making a mistake. This is a position that should be reconsidered.