North Jersey sees rise in animal attacks
By: Lucas Freu
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... North Jersey experienced several animal attacks in recent weeks, even though they usually are rare.
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A black bear, a pair of coyotes and a fox caused injuries to New Jersey residents in September. [2025]
..... In Vernon on September 16, [2025] a bear entered a Dollar General store and bit a woman's leg. Local police officers later euthanized the animal. Data shows that bear attacks in the Garden State are infrequent. the Veronon Township, incident has been the only one reported so far in 2025, according to the black bear activity report from the state Department
of Wildlife unit. The same report said only one bear attack happened in 2024.
..... Category 1 bear incident, considered the most serious, have declined from 132 in 2024 to 77 so far in 2025. Reported aggressive bears, attempted home and vehicle entry and property damage all fell from the previous year. [2024]
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In Saddle River on the evening of September 25 and the morning of September 26, [2025] twp people were attacked by coyotes and needed treatment for their injuries. Police found two coyotes, one already dead and the other having to be euthanized because of abnormal behavior, officers said. One of the coyotes tested possessive for rabies.
..... Another animal attack was reported a few days later, when a fox scratched a teenage girl on the afternoon of September 29 [2025] in Fair Lawn. Despite this string of attacks, a trend is unlikely. The DEP does not have data on coyote or fox attacks, but they are not common in New Jersey. Before the coyote attack in Saddle River, the last instance in North Jersey was when a coyote bit a girl at South Mountain Reservation in Essex County, near Mapplewood, during the summer of 2023.
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No coyote attacks have been reported in recent years, with the exception of 2019, when the animals went after a few people. In October 2019, a coyote attack a woman at Ramapo Valley County Reservation in Mahwah. Two months earlier, also in Mahwah, a coyote bit and scraped a woman before she used a bat to fend it off. The same ear, a pair of animal attacks occurred at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, and in a separate instance two people were injured in a coyote attack at Point Mountain Reservation in Labanon Township in Hunterdon County. coyotes, black bears and foxes are typically not violent in nature. Larry Hajna, a spokesman for Fish & wildlife, told NorthJersey.com in the past.
..... The DEP advises residents never to feed the animals, to enclose garage securely outside homes and to pick up food that may be left outside overnight to prevent encounters.