ERO 019-1112 Re: black bear…

ERO 019-1112
Re: black bear Spring hunt in Ontario

I personally do not like the thought of a Spring bear hunt for a number of reasons. Firstly, I’ll state as an animal lover I find killing animals for sport offensive. While I would never engage in this type of activity, I can understand those who would hunt an animal for food, I. e. a deer. But I can not fathom why anyone would consider eating a Spring bear. They’ve been hibernating, so are not in robust condition and so can hold little allure for the dinner table.
Secondly, sows emerge with very young cubs. Putting sows in a position to be shot by baiting, trapping or happenstance, not only removes her from the breeding population but dooms her cubs also. You can put a moratorium on sow hunting but you cannot enforce it. What concrete measures are being put in place to ensure cub retrieval, rehabilitation and rerelease into the wild? By having a 6 week hunt, you are putting sows and young cubs at risk for far too long a window.
Thirdly, this is 2020. It’s time to think of wildlife as more than objects to shoot and kill as trophies. Perhaps it’s time to to get a more realistic attitude towards what the public really wants, ie. eco-tourism, than catering to a select few who crave blood sports. If you had the courage to promote a more sustainable use of our bears as ‘tourism poster animals’ instead of dead rugs and gallbladders, you would realize an equal, if not, greater revenue. It would be nice if Ontario was known for live Black Bear viewing similar to Churchill claim to fame with polar bears, than as a bear shooting capital.
Lastly, by allowing a double hunt, ie. Spring and Fall, you put undue pressure and stress on the species between den emergence and hibernation. How can you justify this? Why would you shoot them in the Spring and for what reason when they are at their most vulnerable? What’s being done with the carcasses? If you as a Ministry are not thinking about ALL outcomes of your actions, you have no business reinstating a Spring bear hunt. Ontario wildlife should be worth more alive than dead.
Signed a loyal wildlife supporter