Bear to be returned to wild
Published: May 16, 2005
Township officials expect to learn today where the new home will be for the black bear tranquilized and captured in Colonia on Saturday.
State wildlife officials want to return the bear to its original home and planned to check the animal’s tag for a location, said Woodbridge Chief of Staff Donna Jago. Wildlife officials surmised on Saturday that the bear came from northern New Jersey, she said.
“They were going to try and take it back there. All they knew was north,” Jago said Sunday. “They give it a checkup, make sure it’s OK and then take it back.”
The 1 1/2-year-old bear was captured Saturday afternoon after it wandered for hours through a wooded area and small stream in the Colonia section of the township, exciting area residents.
Wildlife officials planned on Saturday to release the bear at the nearest suitable state property south of Colonia, but had not yet selected a site Saturday afternoon.
Kelcey Burguess, a principal black-bear biologist with the Division of Fish & Wildlife, said Saturday the bear probably migrated from Passaic County and followed a greenway along the Raritan River to Middlesex County. Officials found a Fish & Wildlife tag attached to the bear’s ear, which means the agency had previous contact with the animal, likely when it was a cub, Burguess said.
Saturday marked the second bear sighting and capture in less than three weeks in Middlesex County. Burguess said he expects more as the weather warms up.
Younger black bears forced out of their dens are beginning to migrate south to territory inhabited by fewer bears, Burguess said.
Around 8:30 a.m. Saturday, residents began reporting bear sightings to police. As news spread, a growing number of residents gathered on Jordan Road and watched in amazement as crews from the Division of Fish & Wildlife, the Colonia Fire Department and the police worked to corner the roaming bear.
Around 2 p.m. Saturday, two tranquilizer darts were shot into the 164-pound male bear as it rambled through a thin patch of trees about 50 feet behind several homes. The animal scaled a thick tree but when the sedatives took effect, it fell down into a stretched-out black net.
Burguess called it a “textbook” capture.
On April 26, his agency captured a 2-year-old black bear, weighing in at 240 pounds, in Sayreville.
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