It is with a heavy heart that we must pass along this news regarding the hunt. APLNJ and The BEAR Group sent out this press release moments ago. Please see our next alert for actions we will be holding next week and contact us if you would like to get involved.
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MEDIA ADVISORY For Immediate Release
December 1, 2011
Contact: Doris Lin
Animal Advocates Will Appeal Court's Bear Hunt Decision
TRENTON - The Animal Protection League of NJ and the Bear Education And Resource Group intend to appeal today's Appellate Court decision allowing the state's 2010 Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy to stand. APLNJ and the BEAR Group filed the appeal in 2010 to challenge scientific and procedural flaws in the policy that is the basis of the black bear hunt. The groups will appeal the decision to the NJ Supreme Court and continue to protest the unjustified recreational trophy hunt scheduled to take place in New Jersey December 5 through 11, 2011.
Doris Lin, Esq., attorney for APLNJ and the BEAR Group, states, "We're disappointed that the court disregarded the science and instead gave such deference to the Division of Fish and Wildlife as to effectively hold them above the law. The hunt is a trophy hunt, plain and simple. No state agency should be allowed to misrepresent their own science and push the agenda of a special interest minority."
An example of a scientific flaw of the policy is the misrepresentation of the bear complaint data. Professor Ed Tavss of Rutgers University found that The Division artificially inflated bear complaint data by gathering bear complaint numbers from more police departments, and then comparing the data to previous years that included fewer police departments. Even the NJ Fish & Game Council admitted in 2009 that their change in protocol meant that their bear complaint data should not be compared to data from previous years.


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