Editor:

It’s the holiday season — a time to enjoy latkes, cookies and other treats — but also a time when trophy hunters dump these same delights into the woods to lure black bears for an easy kill (“15 bears killed on first day of December hunt,” Dec. 3, 2018). This unsporting practice, called “baiting,” creates a dangerous situation in which the bears are conditioned to seek foods that put them in close proximity to people. Feeding bears with bait increases the likelihood of conflicts, as baited bears experience serious behavior modifications. Food-conditioned bears change their eating habits, home ranges and movement patterns.

Black bears are important and beloved in the Garden State. These highly social animals have sophisticated levels of intelligence and emotion. A mother spends about two years raising and provisioning her cubs, teaching them life skills. Black bears disperse seeds…