I am strongly opposed to the…

I am strongly opposed to the Ontario government’s proposal to bring back the spring bear hunt. There are a number of science-based reasons why the hunt should not be reinstated, but I will focus on just two issues that concern me – (1) the claim that this will protect moose populations, and (2) the ability of the average hunter to distinguish gender when hunting. I question both.

1. Moose and Bears

Among the justifications the government cites for the reinstatement of the spring bear hunt, the most flimsy is the implication that bears are in part responsible for the decline in Ontario moose populations. The reality is human hunters are probably more abundant than black bears. In fact, Ontario has more moose hunters than moose, with over 90,000 provincially licensed moose hunters. This figure, by the way, comes from the Ontario government’s own website.

Moose are declining for many other reasons, and they must be acknowledged as combined factors rather than focus on one possible cause, such as predation by bears. These factors include: loss of habitat, winter ticks, diseases and other parasites, other predators and, of course, hunting by humans.

In fact, if I were to quote the Ontario government site’s own comments on moose populations and bear removal programs, one finds slim evidence to reinstate this program, and I quote: “Several studies have looked at the effect of black bear removal on moose populations. The results of these studies can be difficult to interpret because of the complex ecological relationships in landscapes that have multiple predator and prey species. It can also be difficult to rule out other factors that may be affecting moose, such as habitat changes.”

Issues around habitat, habitat loss and a changing climate should not be underestimated or ignored. This current government, however, prefers development over habitat protection and denies that we live in a world where ecosystems are being affected by changes to climate in ways we have yet to fully understand. This government’s obvious bias in these matters may be informing and tainting their overall understanding of the complexity of the matter.

2. Can you really assure us that only male bears will be hunted and killed?

The spring bear hunt proposal is flawed in its claim that females and cubs will not be harmed. The reality is otherwise. One simply cannot guarantee that every hunter will be able to distinguish between male and female bears. Female bears do get killed, including nursing mothers. Orphaned cubs end up starving to death, or they are killed by other predators. Starvation is cruel. It happens in the wild, of course, but when it is caused by humans it is unacceptable cruelty, so we have to question the ethics of this proposal as well.

As for the fines, are the regulations prohibiting the killing of females accompanied by cubs really enforceable? Finally, killing females, whether by accident or design, will eventually adversely affect the sustainability of the black bear population. Culling never works, and it usually upsets nature’s own delicate balance by creating human-imposed imbalances.

In the end, the citizens of Ontario – the vast majority of whom are not hunters – are owed a full and transparent, non-biased, non-influenced, science-based explanation that can adequately defend the government’s proposal to reinstate the spring bear hunt.

Failing that, the spring bear hunt should not be allowed to move forward, and making it a permanent occurrence in Ontario is definitely wrongheaded in the long-term — scientifically unfounded, ethically questionable and willfully short-sighted.