A bear cub has been rescued after getting its head stuck in a plastic cookie jar in northern New Jersey.

The six-month-old black bear is believed to have been rummaging through trash bins when it got lodged in a container that had the remnants of animal crackers, officials said.

Officials from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) were alerted by a local resident to a "bear in distress" on Friday in Ringwood, about 40 miles north west of New York City.

The agency press director Larry Ragonese said that two of his colleagues responded and located the young cub about 12 metres up in a tree.

The wide jar had become wedged between two branches trapping the cub, Mr. Ragonese said.

He said the 28lb "unhappy and aggressive" cub was sedated to allow officials to safely bring it down.

Fire crews then assisted DEP officials in cutting away the plastic jar, and the cub was then washed off in a pool of cool water.

The cub was taken to an animal rehabilitation centre, where it will remain for four to six weeks before being released back into the wilderness, Mr. Ragonese said.

There was no sign of other bears, including the cub's mother, while officials were on the scene, he said.