Bear Fatally Attacks Llama in Long Valley

LONG VALLEY - An aggressive, hungry bear terrorized a Long Valley family’s property by attacking one of its animals Tuesday morning, then came back looking for more that same night.

Homeowner Ron Caruso, who lives on East Valley Brook Road, was awakened at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning by his barking dog. Caruso looked outside and heard screaming and saw what looked like a bear in the distance.

Caruso, who owns four llamas and two donkeys and has lived in Long Valley since 1991, saw a shocking sight: a black bear was attacking one of his llamas in the rear of the property.

“I ran outside and started banging on the fence with a metal shovel and making loud sounds,” Caruso said. “The bear started to move away, and by the time I got to [the llama] the bear had taken off, but stopped and hung around for a bit before fully going back into the woods.”

Caruso noticed immediately that the llama had a broken leg and severe gashes to its back and hind quarters. When a veterinarian showed up to the home and assessed the injuries, the 17-year-old animal was euthanized, Caruso said.

Washington Township Police Officer John Lee arrived on scene and patrolled the property’s fence line with a shotgun, looking for the bear in the woods, but to no avail.

The remaining five animals were put inside Caruso’s barn Tuesday night as the family mourned the loss of the llama, which was born and raised on the property.

Caruso said he stepped outside onto his back deck Tuesday night, around 10 p.m., only to find the bear had returned, and was scratching at the barn door, trying to get inside.

Again, Caruso did what he could to scare away the bruin, who took off into the woods prior to a local, licensed bear hunter arriving.

After more than two decades living in town, Caruso said he just began seeing bears in the area in recent years, including more than half a dozen sightings since this past summer. His electric fence has also been broken numerous times by the animals, he said.

Tuesday morning’s attack comes just a few days after a bear attacked a donkey in Chester Township. That backyard animal survived, but was found in the next-door neighbor’s in-ground pool after the incident with lacerations and gashes as well.

In November a bear got into another Chester Township yard and attacked and killed a goat before running into the woods.

The annual New Jersey bear hunt is underway, running Dec. 7 through Dec. 12. After the first two days this week, which included expanded hunting territory, nearly 300 bears were culled, which is more than the 2014 total from the entire hunt.