TO The MNR of Ontario The…

TO The MNR of Ontario

The spring black bear hunt season should NOT be implemented for the following reasons:

Black bears are the only big game species with dependent young who are hunted in the spring.

34% of black bears killed are female and an average of 17% of those are adult (OMNR 2009 Report), some with cubs. Orphaned spring black bear cubs die of dehydration, starvation and predation.

Baiting, especially near trails and buildings, contributes to human-bear conflicts.

Ontario still allows the use of dogs in bear hunting.
The dogs may attack cubs and injured adult bears, or may be injured or killed themselves.

The previous spring hunt did not reduce human bear interactions because hunts do not eliminate the primary cause of these conflicts - unsecured attractants.