New Jersey

New Jersey’s deer population is dropping, but complaints over deer destruction are on the rise

Published

2 years ago

August 25, 2024

New Jersey’s deer population is dropping, but complaints over deer destruction are on the rise

From Camden and Cherry Hill to Trenton and the Jersey Shore, what about life in New Jersey do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know.

White-tailed deer are everywhere in New Jersey, standing in fields, grazing next to roads, and even strolling through suburban front lawns and backyards in broad daylight.

Brian Schumm, an assistant biologist with the State Division of Fish and Wildlife, which is part of the Bureau of Wildlife Management, said that complaints about white-tailed deer are on the rise.

“There just seems to be too many deer, there seems to be too much damage,” he said.

And too many deer is a problem.

“With public safety we’re really thinking about deer-vehicle collisions, which occasionally are fatal, and tick-borne diseases,” Schumm said.

The other problem is ticks that often feed on deer and are transmitted by the animals as they wander into populated areas. These then lead to tick-related diseases in pets and humans.

Liz Thompson, a research associate with the New Jersey Farm Bureau said besides destroying flower and vegetable gardens, deer also pose a serious agricultural threat.

She said the Farm Bureau used drone technology and conducted an infrared study of areas near farmlands. The findings were shocking, she said.

“Biologists will say that five to 15 deer per square mile is sustainable, and we found areas that had more than 200 in some cases,” she said.

She said deer will eat whatever is most convenient, and a big field of produce or corn is an easy meal for them.

A report by Rutgers University’s School of Environmental and Biological Sciences found annual economic losses to high-value agricultural crops in New Jersey from deer damage total more than $15 million.

Thompson said a Farm Bureau survey found 25% of farmers abandoned parcels of farming land because of the deer pressure.

She said farmers are frequently frustrated trying to control local deer populations. “The deer can simply hide in these places that they can’t be hunted, and then at some point when it’s safe they come back to the fields and they eat again,” she said.

According to official estimates, the deer population in the Garden State is trending downward, now standing at 115,000, which is lower than it used to be, but Schumm said that total is based on hunter harvest data.

“So if we have areas of the state, suburban areas, urban areas, which we do get a lot of complaints about deer from, there’s obviously less hunter access to those areas,” he said.

He said the population estimate is probably accurate for parts of the state where hunting is permitted, but inaccurate for areas where hunting is reduced or prohibited.

Less interest in hunting

Schumm said that there is a steady decline in the number of hunters, and that could be a problem in mitigating the excessive deer population.

He pointed out that the average age of hunters in New Jersey continues to get older, and young people do not seem to be interested.

“It seems that our youth, with this technological revolution that we’re in, are a little bit less interested, and a little bit less familiar with the outdoors,” he said.

Schumm said the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife is taking steps to address the deer conundrum, by allowing archery hunting in closer proximity to populated areas.

He said normally deer hunters using a bow and arrow cannot be within 150 feet of a building without authorization.

“There’s some amount of permissions that can be granted, generally it requires a little bit more oversight from communities, maybe they issue permits to the hunters so they know who is out there and when they’re out there,” he said.

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New Jersey

Woman charged with theft for taking dog outside N.J. home, police say

Published

10 hours ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

Woman charged with theft for taking dog outside N.J. home, police say

A woman has been charged with theft for taking a dog outside a Clifton, New Jersey, home in April, police say.

Last month, William Chan told CBS News New York his dog, a 7-year-old Shih Tzu-Yorkshire Terrier mix named Rocky, somehow got out of the house on April 5 while his nephew was dog-sitting.

The Clifton Police Department said investigators determined that while Rocky was loose, he ran down the street and was running in or near the road at times.

Video shows Rocky did eventually return to his own yard, and a child holding a blanket can be seen chasing the dog before a woman gets out of a black SUV parked in the road. Rocky then runs onto the back porch of his home, where the woman and child corner him, grab him with a blanket, take him back to the SUV, and drive away.

The family said Rocky was wearing a harness and ID tag at the time.

Police said the woman did not make any attempt to talk to anyone inside the home or any neighbors, and neither animal control nor police received any calls about a loose dog being found on that day.

Chan called police on April 6 to report that Rocky had possibly been stolen, and investigators were later able to identify 29-year-old Mery Cepeda-Chevalier, of Newark, as a person of interest.

Officers spotted Cepeda-Chevalier’s vehicle in Passaic on April 8 and pulled her over, police said.

According to police, Cepeda-Chevalier cooperated with detectives, admitted she had Rocky, and agreed to have the detectives follow her back to her home. She then handed over the dog, and detectives reunited Rocky with his family.

On Thursday, Cepeda-Chevalier was charged via summons with one count of theft of a domestic companion animal.

Andrew Ramos

contributed to this report.

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New Jersey

Browns Hand Out New Jersey Uniform Numbers for All 10 Draftees, Plus a Dozen UDFAs

Published

23 hours ago

May 8, 2026

Press Room

Browns Hand Out New Jersey Uniform Numbers for All 10 Draftees, Plus a Dozen UDFAs

The Cleveland Browns announced jersey numbers for all 10 draftees, as the team’s rookie minicamp is underway at the CrossCountry Mortgage Campus.

While First-round picks Spencer Fano and KC Concepcion had already shown off their numbers — 55 and 17, respectively .. at their introductory press conference a few days ago, the jersey numbers for other rookies hadn’t been disclosed until today.

Second-round wideout Denzel Boston will now wear No. 12, quarterback Shedeur Sanders’ old number. Sanders, a fifth-rounder last year, had previously announced a switch to his old college No. 2 beforehand.

Fifth-round linebacker Justin Jefferson has been assigned jersey No. 10, which was used by last year’s second-round running back Quinshon Judkins. No announcement has been made yet on Judkins possibly changing his number, though. He wore No. 1 at Ohio State.

Not all jersey numbers are available in Cleveland, as the team has officially retired five of them: 14 (Otto Graham), 32 (Jim Brown), 45 (Ernie Davis), 46 (Don Fleming) and 76 (Lou Groza).

Jersey	Round	Pick Advertisement	Name	Position	School
55	1 Advertisement	9	Spencer Fano	OT	Utah
17 Advertisement	1	24	KC Concepcion	WR	Texas A&M Advertisement
12	2	39	Denzel Boston	WR Advertisement	Washington
28	2	58	Emmanuel McNeil-Warren Advertisement	S	Toledo
58	3	86 Advertisement	Austin Barber	OT	Florida
52	5 Advertisement	146	Parker Brailsford	C	Alabama
10 Advertisement	5	149	Justin Jefferson	LB	Alabama Advertisement
18	5	170	Joe Royer	TE Advertisement	Cincinnati
15	6	182	Taylen Green Advertisement	QB	Arkansas
48	7	248 Advertisement	Carsen Ryan	TE	BYU

At this point in time, eiht of the 10 rookies drafted by Cleveland in last months 2026 NFL Draft have signed their contracts. The only still-unsigned draftees are wideout Concepcion and safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren.

In these cases, players sign a participation agreement that covers the team’s liability during the event, ensuring players are covered for injury.

Browns officially add 12 undrafted free agents

Cleveland also announced the formal signing of 12 undrafted free agents to complete it’s rookie class.

The most notable name on this list appears to be Logan Fano, a defensive end out of Utah who just happens to be Spencer Fano’s brother.

All undrafted free agent rookies were also assigned their numbers for the Browns’ rookie minicamp.

Jersey	Name	Position	School
29 Advertisement	Davon Booth	RB	Mississippi State
34	Zion Washington Advertisement	S	Boise State
36	TJ Harden	RB Advertisement	SMU
36	Wes Pahl	P	Oklahoma State Advertisement
38	Kole Wilson	WR	Baylor
43 Advertisement	Nate Evans	CB	Delaware
47	DeCarlos Nicholson Advertisement	CB	USC
60	Izavion Miller	OT Advertisement	Auburn
64	Tyreak Sapp	DE	Florida Advertisement
66	Bernard Gooden	DT	LSU
90 Advertisement	Khordae Sydnor	DE	Vanderbilt
97	Logan Fano Advertisement	DE	Utah

Other players that have reportedly accepted invites to Browns’ rookie minicamp include Utah State quarterback Bryson Barnes, West Virginia linebacker Reid Carrico, Fordham linebacker James Conway, and Bowling Green tight end Jyrin Johnson.

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