The rationale is made that more revenue will flow into Ontario as rich American, European, and Asian hunters will be allowed to kill our bears in both spring and fall. What chance does a baby bear have when its starvation generates profits?
Casey Neal [CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]
On January 15, 1999, after massive effort by my colleagues and me, the
then Conservative government of Ontario announced an end to the hunting of
black bears in the province, in the spring, although in some regions hunting
could occur as early as late summer. There was no decrease in the number of
bears (out of a population size not accurately known) that could be hunted,
but the end to the spring hunt was welcomed because bear hunters often
failed to detect the differences between mother bears (who where protected)
with dependent cubs, and legally hunted male or non-maternal female bears,
leaving dependent cubs to die in the bush. John Snobelen made the decision
“...to move to end the spring bear hunt because [our government] will not
tolerate cubs being orphaned by hunters mistakenly shooting mother bears in
the spring.”
The government changed hands in 2013, with Kathleen Wynne leading the
Liberal Party to victory. She admitted to seeking votes in rural central and
northern Ontario by instating a “test” partial return (involving resident
Ontarians only) to the spring bear hunt, even though there was a plethora of
evidence from the government’s own scientists that hunting bears in the
spring inevitably left cubs to die of thirst, exposure, starvation, or
predation, as they were dependent upon their mothers who were too often
accidentally shot by hunters.
The Liberals wore out their welcome and, in 2018, while most Ontario voters
chose a different party to vote for, the Conservatives, under the leadership
of Doug Ford, wound up with more votes than any one party in a multi-party
system and thus formed a four-year majority government in the last
provincial election. Now Ford has just announced that the spring bear hunt
will not only continue, but will return to its pre-1999 level, even though,
according to its own research, published in 1996, it means that 70% of cubs
orphaned during spring seasons died before their first birthday in the three
wildlife management units studied. Yes, it will still be illegal to kill
mother bears in the spring, but as we know from past experience, some will
be shot, especially since now hunters from regions lacking bears, who are
thus unfamiliar with them, will be loose in the woods with their deadly
weapons. Ontario residents are able to comment on this measure.
Every Conservation Officer with whom I’ve had the discussion legitimately
complains about lack of funds and resources with which to do the job (which,
to be sure, many do very well indeed). But, Ford won’t say how he’ll fund
the extra enforcement that will be required. Bear advocates recognize that
they are defeated from the outset as the Ford government shows little
interest in facts or compassion. Upon defeat, Wynne resigned as leader of
the Liberals but, even without a leader, they currently are higher in the
polls (were an election to be called today) than Ford and his party, and he
has nearly three more years to go. Ford’s ineptitude has engendered so much
disquiet, pain, and disruption that there is little room left in the media
to discuss his attacks on wildlife.
The rationale is made that more revenue will flow into Ontario as rich
American, European, and Asian hunters will be allowed to kill our bears in
both spring and fall. What chance does a baby bear have when its starvation
generates profits? Very little, indeed.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Barry