newjerseynewsroom.com

Authorities say first such attack of the year

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Two boys, a 12-year-old from Jersey City and an 11-year-old from Brooklyn, sustained minor injuries early Wednesday when they were attacked by a yearling black bear that entered their campsite in Stokes State Forest in northern Sussex County.

The boys, who authorities declined to identify, were part of a larger camping group that were lodged in several tents in the Gren Anderson section of the forest when the bear entered their campground sometime after 5 a.m.

One boy was scratched on the shoulder and the other has a puncture wound on his foot. As a precaution, the children were treated at a nearby hospital.

A state wildlife technician shot the bear near the campsite, wounding the animal in the neck. The injured bear subsequently fled into the adjacent woods and as of Wednesday afternoon was being tracked by conservation officers and the state Department of Environmental Protection's bear response team, aided by a blood sniffing dog. Snares and traps also were being set.

The DEP has closed sections of the Appalachian Trail and intersecting hiking trails that run through Stokes State Forest, until further notice. All available state resources are being used to track the bear, authorities said. The state Division of Fish and Wildlife, DEP conservation officers, state troopers and state park police are taking part in the response.

The injured boys were part of a youth camping group that included two adult counselors and nine children at the state-owned campsite. The group was asleep when the bear entered a first tent and injured one of the boys, according to authorities. The bear then went to a second tent where it swiped at a second boy.