Did bear really attack a man in NJ? Authorities still investigating

POHATCONG — Police said they are still investigating whether or not bear attacked a man in his porch on Wednesday morning.

"This department HAS NOT confirmed that there was a bear encounter this morning. The incident is still be investigated and more information will be released as it becomes available," the department wrote on its Facebook page.

Earlier, police said said the man reported he was attacked by a bear who came into the porch of his home on Route 627 around 9 a.m. and was eating leftover cat food. The man told  police he was swiped in the arm before the bear, who he said weighed between 450-500 pounds, ran off into a neighboring cornfield.

The man told police that he has seen the bear in his Warren County neighborhood on a daily basis.

New Jersey Fish & Game was called in by police to assist with the investigation and to help trap the bear.

Pohatcong Police said the man was taken to St.Luke's-Warren Hospital for treatment.

Police warned residents not to leave be sure not to leave any food or garbage laying around their property as not to attract bears.

The NJ Department of Environmental Protection said bears are usually wary of people but leaving garbage around for them will make the see the area as a source of food and they will spend more time there.

"Once they find an easily accessible food source, like garbage in a housing development, they will lose their wariness of people and may return to the available food source. These bears can become a nuisance or aggressive and may have to be trapped and aversively conditioned or destroyed," the DEP said.

In recent years, bears have been spotted every county in New Jersey.