One bullet can kill a whole…

One bullet can kill a whole family.... Hunters have difficulties determining the sex of bears even when they use bait or hounds, are attempting to avoid shooting females and are in close proximity. Researchers themselves have difficulties determining sex, even at short distances. Spring hunts of black bears can kill mother bears, leaving orphaned cubs to fend for themselves. Some cubs are only a few months old and still nursing or are yearlings who are still dependent for another few months. Most orphaned cubs suffer from starvation, predation or exposure.

While some wildlife managers believe that spring bear hunting is necessary to reduce the bear population and thus avoid conflicts, hunters, trappers and wildlife control agents often remove the wrong bears—they kill the individuals not involved in nuisance behaviors. Bear-resistant trash cans, hazing programs and other humane methods work better to solve problems.

Bears who come into urban areas are most frequently adult females with cubs or subadults who purposely do so to avoid aggression by other adult bears, usually males; association with people is a deliberate adaptive strategy to keep their cubs alive.

Hunting black bears is a cruel, unsustainable solution to overpopulation concerns. And with more hunters, it will be hard to keep track of how many bears are killed. The hunt could easily spiral out of control.

Bears play an important role in the environment. ...Their diets range from ungulates (like deer or elk), small critters, insects, nuts and berries. Their role in keeping the population of ungulates controlled helps plant life stay healthy and happy by regulating the amount of biomass they eat. Happy bears mean happy trees and therefore plants and animals that rely on the trees. Bears also tend to prey on the weak or sick, leaving the remaining population healthy and strong for the next generation.

But the benefits of bears don’t stop there. Along with bigger prey, bears eat insects, helping to regulate their populations from booming and therefore over consumption in the ecosystem. Because their appetite is rounded out with berries, their scat turns into the perfect fertilizer for the new seeds of bushes to re-emerge, helping endemic plant species sustain. Their heavy bodies and roaming nature mean they break downed logs and speed up the process of decay and nutrient return to the soil.

Please cancel the hunting of this important and necessary creature.
Thank you