"Be a Good Neighbor – Be Bear Aware"

With the arrival a spring, New Jersey’s black bears are emerging from their dens to search for food, increasing the likelihood of encounters with residents and nuisance complaints. As part of the State’s public education effort to prevent problems between people and bears, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection prepared the following flier, “Be a Good Neighbor – Be Bear Aware.” This public-safety guidance offers simple steps for discouraging nuisance bears in your neighborhoods and can help reduce the number of incidents that must be handled by the police department or Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) staff. Though the majority of New Jersey’s black bears live in the northwestern portion of the state, sightings have been reported in all 21 counties, so residents in every community can benefit from the information in the flier.