NJ Fish and Wildlife: Union Beach Bear was behaving normally

O’Scanlon: Bears Hanging out in Monmouth County on Memorial Day Weekend is not “normal behavior”

Male bear killed in Union Beach on Saturday night. photo by Councilman Charlie Cocuzza

In response to our report this morning that NJ DEP’s Fish and Wildlife Division told Union Beach Police officials that “We don’t come out on weekends” and “that is not our protocol,” when the UBPD asked for their assistance in tranquilizing and relocating the bear that was shot and killed last night, DEP spokesman Bob Considine said, “the notion that F&W biologist don’t work weekends is ridiculous and offensive.”

Considine said that had the Union Beach situation been Category 1, i.e., the bear was a threat to public safety or property, that Fish and Wildlife biologists would have been on the scene. He said that the situation in Union Beach last night was a Category 3…a bear exhibiting normal behavior and not a nuisance or threat to public safety.

Considine said that F&W advised UBPD that they would not be disposing of the carcass over the weekend.  The bear’s body is now stored in a locked dumpster on Union Beach Borough property.  “Perhaps something got lost in translation,” he said.

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NJ Fish and Wildlife to Union Beach Police: “We don’t come out on weekends”

Bear was previously caught and tagged by NJDEP

Updated with NJ DEP response 2:30 pm

photo by Councilman Charlie Cocuzza.

The Union Beach Police Department requested the assistance of the NJ Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife to tranquilize and relocate the male bear that was eventually shot and killed on Saturday night, according to Councilman Charlie Cocuzza.

Cocuzza said that he was on the scene for over four hours with Union Beach Police officers.  He stressed that the officers “did everything that was suggested by Fish and Wildlife.”

During a phone interview with Cocuzza this morning, he said that UBPD received a call from a resident reporting the presence of a bear at Dock and 3rd Ave at approximately 9:30 pm on Saturday, according to the source.  By 9:50 pm police had spotted the bear and started evacuating the fishing area at the point.

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