I am opposed to a spring…

I am opposed to a spring black bear hunt season in Ontario. It is impossible to enforce the prohibition against the killing of cubs, or females with cubs. Female bears emerging from dens on their own will be attracted to bait and will be killed, leaving cubs behind to starve.

Please consider points made in Proceedings of the Fifth Western Black Bear Workshop, 1996 “Sociological and Ethical Considerations of Black Bear Hunting” https://www.animalalliance.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/report_1996_Be…

“Rationale Against Spring Seasons
[…….]
1. It is ethically wrong to hunt during a time when females are nursing young because of orphaning and subsequent death of cubs.
2. It is wrong to harass bears during a critical period for them physiologically.
3. Bears are too vulnerable in the spring because of their concentration in limited habitat and declining physical condition.
4. Spring seasons contribute to harming other natural resources. Road damage and stream siltation are two examples.
5. Agencies lose credibility for supporting spring seasons.

I am persuaded by the ethical argument alone against a spring hunting season. Although there are other factors to consider such as:
• evidence shows that the spring bear hunt does not reduce human-bear conflict
• a hunt that targets postpartum females threatens the sustainability of the population of this species
• there might well be a stronger regional economic benefit from the presence of black bears, and other wildlife species, if eco-tourism, rather than hunting, were promoted
the unethical nature of the hunt, and the damage it does to Ontario’s reputation are sufficiently compelling for me.

The correct decision was made in 1999 to end the spring bear hunt in Ontario. Please be the government that does the right thing again in 2020.