I am opposed to a regular…

I am opposed to a regular spring bear hunt, but support the shortened season for the Bruce Peninsula. I oppose a regular spring hunt for several reasons:
-the bear population is already going to face new pressures with Beech Bark disease spreading throughout Ontario, and turning the Beech trees, a main source of fall protein (beech nuts), into pulp within three years of infecting a tree,
-despite arguments otherwise, it is too difficult in the field to discern a female from a male bear, leaving cubs vulnerable to losing their mothers to the hunt,
-bears are also going to become more vulnerable to changes in climate, especially those that hibernate under trees and rely on the snow to cover them over for the winter. Those who can find cave or other good den sites may not be as vulnerable to our later winter season, and the freezes and thaws and wild fluctuations in temperature and precipitation that now characterize our winters. However, those who den in more open situations will be stressed by these kinds of winters, which could affect numbers.

I support the shorted season for Bruce Peninsula bears as their population is already tenuous due to its genetic isolation from other populations.