As someone who cares about…

As someone who cares about Ontario's wildlife, I am disappointed to learn that this government is now proposing a permanent spring bear hunt. At the time of the proposed "pilot" project I also submitted a comment in opposition and I am doing so again today. As wildlife populations are plunging all over the world due to habitat loss, over-hunting, poaching and other environmental factors, I find it unconscionable that our government would even consider this decision. It is my understanding that it is illegal to kill a mother bear with cubs, however, considering that there is a large number of cubs that are orphaned every year, it seems to me that those that hunt seem to be ignorant of the fact that mother bears often hide their young cubs while they go foraging for food...this being the case, why does the government allow the hunt to start so early in the year? It goes against all reason. Also, where is the information on how many bears are being poached each year? Is there somewhere we can find that out? I do not know how anyone can make the statement that the Ontario black bear population is "sustainable". It seems to me that there are too many unknown factors to make such a statement. We are also at risk of forest fires here in Ontario and we have seen what devastating effect fires can have on wildlife populations by simply watching the news unfold in Australia. The "value" of our wildlife is priceless and we must do all we can to protect it.