The fish and wildlife division of New Jersey announced on Sunday that it has extended the black bear hunting season this year by four more days to provide avid hunters more time to nab a bruin.

Officials from the agency said that the next phase of the bear hunt will start on Wednesday, Dec. 16, around 30 minutes before the sunrise and will continue until 30 minutes past the sunset on Saturday.

Bear hunters who were already able to catch a bruin this year will no longer be allowed to participate in the extension of the hunt on Wednesday.

Bob Martin, commissioner of the environmental protection department of New Jersey, said that the number of harvested bruins during this season's six-day hunt failed to reach the set goals, with hunters only killing 472 individual bears.

The DEP believes that the extension of the bear hunt will allow them to achieve the harvest number needed for this year.

"With the four-day extension, we will reach a harvest number that will keep the black bear population healthy and sustainable, while reducing the potential for conflicts with people," Martin said.

The environmental protection agency made the decision to extend the hunt based on the rate of bruins previously tagged and brought to designated harvest stations this season.

Officials said out of the 133 bears tagged to determine harvest rates during the hunt, only 24 of the animals were brought to harvest stations. This corresponds to a harvest rate of only around 18 percent.

The new policy enacted by the environmental protection department this year states that the hunting season for bears can be extended if the rate of harvest fails to reach the 20 percent mark.

In 2003, New Jersey officials have allowed bear hunting to resume in the state following a 30-year hiatus.

Wildlife experts said the yearly bear hunt is important in helping them manage the local bruin population. Animal conservationists, however, have long criticized the practice, calling it unnecessary and inhumane.

New Jersey has also extended the portions of the state where people are allowed to hunt bears. During this year's hunting season, hunters were permitted to nab bruins in the counties of Morris, Hunterdon, Sussex, Somerset, Warren and Passaic.

Photo: Jitze Couperus | Flickr