Gloucester County, NJ Animal Ordinances: Wildlife Feeding (2026)

Section 2(v) of the Gloucester County Parks Rules & Regulations tells visitors not to feed geese, ducks, waterfowl or any other wildlife at any time in a Park Area, and the rule carries its own penalty clause separate from the county's general enforcement section: anyone who violates it shall be subject to ejection from the park and/or fines as prescribed by law or another penalty periodically imposed by resolution of the County of Gloucester. That means the Board of County Commissioners can adjust the fine amount by resolution without rewriting the underlying rule.

The feeding ban sits alongside Section 2(y), which bars picking, digging or destroying vegetation, soil or aquatic life in a Park Area, and together the two sections form the county's habitat-protection framework for its parks. Department of Parks & Recreation staff and authorized representatives administer both sections under Section 3(e), and under Section 3(f) they can ask anyone violating either rule to leave immediately or call in law enforcement to enforce compliance. Because the wildlife-feeding rule names its own penalty track, a citation for tossing food to geese at a county lake does not have to wait on the general fine-or-imprisonment clause in Section 3(g); park staff can eject a visitor on the spot and still refer the matter for a fine set by law or county resolution.