Hello, I wish to express my…

Numéro du REO

019-1112

Identifiant (ID) du commentaire

45029

Commentaire fait au nom

Individual

Statut du commentaire

Commentaire

Hello,
I wish to express my concern with the spring bear hunt being extended. The main reason is that there is no way for hunters to be absolutely sure that a bear does not have cubs. The cubs are only 2 to 3 kg before June 1st. The mother leaves them to go forage for food as they can’t follow their mothers yet. If a mother bear happens to pass by an area that has been baited on her own, how will the hunters know she has cubs waiting for her? This is very cruel has it now leaves cubs to fend for themselves and very likely to starve to death. Some end up with a wildlife rehabilitator who quickly becomes overwhelmed with the time needed to care for them on top of all the other wildlife and also the cost which is not supported by the government.
Bears are mostly vegetarians and the decline of the moose population cannot be blame on them but rather on over hunting by people and the construction of new roads.
As for the danger posed by bears, why are hunters allowed to set up bating areas so close to towns? This would certainly increase the amount of bears coming near humans. The summer of 2015 may have been a bad summer when it comes to bear conflict but the summers of 1991 and 1992 were also bad when the spring bear hunt was legal. Extending the spring bear hunt will not result in an increase in public safety but the Bear Wise program should be brought back to full scale.
Thank you