NJ officials kill bear that attacked sleeping camper

Tuesday, August 2, 2005
By LYNN OLANOFF
Herald Staff Writer

MONTAGUE — A bear bit a sleeping camper and tried to drag him away from a shelter along the Appalachian Trail at High Point State Park last month, state officials said Monday. The bear was killed Friday after becoming ensnared in a trap at the same campsite, officials said.

The male camper, whose name has not been released, was sleeping with a group around 6:30 a.m. on July 13 at the Mashipacong Shelter when the bear bit him on the leg and attempted to drag both him and his sleeping bag, said Karen Hershey, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The bear left "marks" on the camper, Hershey said, but would not release details of his injuries Monday.

State officials learned of the incident from a High Point State Park ranger on July 21, Hershey said. The spokeswoman said the late notification combined with a weeklong investigation into the incident was the reason for delayed public notification.

The State Division of Fish and Wildlife set a trap for the bear Wednesday at the shelter, the campsite on the Appalachian Trail in Montague where the July 13 incident occurred, Hershey said. The shelter is near Deckertown Turnpike in the southeast corner of the park close to the Wantage border.

The 152-pound, 5-year-old female bear caught in the trap Friday was later identified as the same bear who bit the camper, Hershey said. She did not say how the bear was identified.

"The Division (of Fish and Wildlife) was confident it caught the offending bear," she said.

DEP Press Director Elaine Makatura said the department does not release the names of people involved in bear incidents to "protect (their) anonymity."

The Mashipacong Shelter and nearby sections of the Appalachian Trail were closed for a few days during the investigation. They have since been reopened.

High Point State Park Superintendent John Keator referred a call Monday inquiring about the incident to the DEP press office

Ps. I only hope the sleeping camper was one of those NJ bear lovers. l.h

Wow what a scary thought. Bad way to end a camping trip. I have been told that there are lots of grisley attacks and if you play dead they will often leave you and go away. Black bears, however, when they attack they are trying to eat you. I understand that in Ontario it happens once in a while and there isn't much left of the victim.

i was up near algonquin park in ontario hunting the same year the husband and wife got killed and eaten in there sleep. they were camped on a small island on the opeongo river. our camp was down the river from the site. its weird being part of the food chain while your on a hunt.