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http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1674005
Bring back spring bear hunt
So the blueberries are coming out ... and we don't have to worry about bears in our backyards for a good month-and-a-half, according to the MNR.
This hardly sounds reassuring or professional. It is, of course, a lame political excuse for the underlying problem that the MNR is acutely aware of.
Blaming the problem on people having garbage is not the primary cause of this conflict. The primary cause is the severe over-population of bears since the spring harvest was cancelled.
The following information was gleaned from an article written by the President of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Mr. Rob Hare:
"The MNR's own data shows that human-bear contact has risen dramatically since the cancellation of the spring bear hunt in 1999. The number of bear complaints has increased from an average of 1,000 per year prior to 1999 to 9,000 annually between 2004 and 2007, to a high of 12,700 in 2007. Clearly, Bear Wise, the Ministry's primary tool for reducing human-bear conflict, is not working. Prior to 1999, bear sightings in towns and cities was relatively rare. Today, hundreds if not thousands of bears are destroyed annually -- wasted -- instead of being valued and used by hunters ...
"We need a black bear management system that takes into consideration Ontario's ecological and social needs, one that considers not only humans, but black bear, and deer and calf moose predation by bears. Wasted bears aren't the only casualty of the cancellation of the spring bear hunt. It's time to restore the black bear's status to a valued big game animal".
Mr. Hare's article appears in the July edition of Ontario Out Of Doors magazine.
Let's hear less about blaming people for having garbage cans and bird feeders, and more about a scientific and professional bear management program, as we have for other big game animals.
Simon R. Guillet Guilletville
So the blueberries are coming out ... and we don't have to worry about bears in our backyards for a good month-and-a-half, according to the MNR.
This hardly sounds reassuring or professional. It is, of course, a lame political excuse for the underlying problem that the MNR is acutely aware of.
Blaming the problem on people having garbage is not the primary cause of this conflict. The primary cause is the severe over-population of bears since the spring harvest was cancelled.
The following information was gleaned from an article written by the President of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, Mr. Rob Hare:
"The MNR's own data shows that human-bear contact has risen dramatically since the cancellation of the spring bear hunt in 1999. The number of bear complaints has increased from an average of 1,000 per year prior to 1999 to 9,000 annually between 2004 and 2007, to a high of 12,700 in 2007. Clearly, Bear Wise, the Ministry's primary tool for reducing human-bear conflict, is not working. Prior to 1999, bear sightings in towns and cities was relatively rare. Today, hundreds if not thousands of bears are destroyed annually -- wasted -- instead of being valued and used by hunters ...
"We need a black bear management system that takes into consideration Ontario's ecological and social needs, one that considers not only humans, but black bear, and deer and calf moose predation by bears. Wasted bears aren't the only casualty of the cancellation of the spring bear hunt. It's time to restore the black bear's status to a valued big game animal".
Mr. Hare's article appears in the July edition of Ontario Out Of Doors magazine.
Let's hear less about blaming people for having garbage cans and bird feeders, and more about a scientific and professional bear management program, as we have for other big game animals.
Simon R. Guillet Guilletville
