New Jersey's annual six-day bear hunt ends at sunset Saturday.

Hunters have killed 228 bruins as of Thursday, mostly in Sussex County.

The hunt aims to control the state's black bear population, now estimated at about 2,900 in the hunting area, about 500 fewer than in 2010.

Environmental Protection Department biologists expect a harvest similar to last year's, when 469 bears were killed.

The bear hunt takes place in an area north of Interstate 78 and west of Interstate 287.