Bear Wrongfully Accused Of Attacking Young Jersey Campers

Black bears: not actually pure evil (Photo via NatGeo)

The black bear that reportedly injured two young campers in New Jersey yesterday was apparently not so vicious—turns out that the boys' injuries weren't caused by the bear, after all.

Hospital officials concluded that the abrasions found on the campers were not consistent with a bear, and were not fresh from that day,” said Larry Herrighty, the assistant director of the Division of Fish and Wildlife. “Based on the findings of the hospital staff, it is concluded the bear did not make the wounds on the children.”

The bear did indeed wander into the camp and sniff around for food, poking his head into one tent and then moving on to a second. But it didn't come after the boys, who, according to Herrighty, "never said they were attacked." The injuries on the boys' foot and shoulder turned out to be scars from an old blister and scrape; the mixup was the result of confusion amongst the adult counselors during the bear brouhaha.

A DEP spokesman said that if wildlife officials do encounter the bear, who was shot once but ran off into the forest, they will shoot and kill it.

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By Jamie Feldmar in News on August 5, 2011 9:44 AM

Comments [rss]

carolbetzy

he's dead- or some other bear, who knows. But they killed a bear:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.s...

felixthecat

Fuching assholes shot the beat.

edgie168

lolwut?

taracorinne

The reason they'd have to kill it is because once a bear is accustomed to digging in trash to get human food, they can't be untrained to do that and the bear will only get worse and come into neighborhoods to get food.

FU Boy

"Damn nature, why won't you behave? Guess I'll have to make you behave..." ~D.E.P.

"Tim Osman"

I guess Dick Cheney is working for New Jersey's wildlife management now?

Nos Feratu

Nope. If Cheney had been the trigger man, he's have "accidentally" shot the two urban "yute" campers.

"Tim Osman"

I was referencing good old Richard in that this whole thing sounds more like the search for WMD and pre-emptive war against the bears.

imadick

damn kid, that is so two-thousand-and-late. try again with the pithy comment

"Tim Osman"

Try again with discernible English

LICnative

A brother can't get a break. He's lucky one of those kids didn't shoot their wives. He'd be doing life.

Eric Gordon

Why do they still need to kill it if it actually hasn't attacked anyone?

Barbara Starkweather

They have to kill it now, because they've already shot it in the neck. If that makes sense.

Or, possibly any bear that doesn't run away from humans is considered one that associates them with food, and is therefore a 'problem bear'.

Link to pics below, the first page are from around that area. The "bear lockers" are in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, a little south of Stokes.

http://s211.photobucket.com/al...

birdtird

Doritos are expensive yo

jibbly

Sooooo...this bear actually didn't do jack shit but sniff around for some food and now it's gonna get shot and killed.

I get it now, it's a black bear.

GalBklyn

yep. like jibbly said... in Jersey...

schmeep

...always tryin' to keep the Black Bear down.

jibbly

Now take a white polar bear. You show one swimming aimlessly in the middle of the ocean with no reprieve because all the ice melted due to global warming and everyone goes "awwwwww" and shit. You take a black bear from NJ checking out the food situation up in that tent and motherfucker gets shot.