Hunters often struggle to…

Hunters often struggle to pinpoint the difference between a male and female black bear, and risk killing a mother bear during the spring season – orphaning her cubs who are too young to survive on their own. This will not be beneficial for the species, and in turn the ecosystem, as a whole.

This is one of the main reasons why I'm against the provincial government’s suggestion to make an annual spring black bear hunting season permanent in Ontario. Although there is a ban on killing bear cubs and their mothers, this won’t stop hunters who fail to make the distinction (even at a close range). Inadvertently shooting mother bears is what prompted the cancellation of a previous pilot spring hunting season, and reinstating it based on a proposed economic need just isn’t enough to warrant the negative impact on the species. There just isn't a need.