Like Coyote Watch Canada, I…

Like Coyote Watch Canada, I strongly oppose the spring bear hunt and state it should be cancelled because of some important issues that must be considered:

-->Females with cubs must be protected; currently that is difficult as cubs are frequently treed or kept away by their mother while she forages,
-->Baiting should not take place,
-->Bear hunters in the spring make up a very small percentage of people enjoying the outdoors in Ontario,
-->The use of hounds/dogs to chase, tree and/or otherwise harass bears should be immediately halted.

We have to be aware how we influence into the nature and wildlife system. If we want to have control over wildlife in nature, we should look to protect it instead of leading wildife into extinction. Just one important example:

Authors Garrity and Christensen (2020) in their published article described one of the important reasons for extinction of grizzly bears in Yellowstone National Park and how they are being forced into less secure habitat where they are often shot and killed. The authors stated: “We have tens of millions of cattle in America but we only have about 700 grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Yet an October 2019 decision by the Bridger-Teton National Forest’s Pinedale District authorizes continued cattle grazing on 267 square miles of public lands that will result in the deaths of an estimated 72 grizzly bears in the Upper Green River and Gros Ventre River drainages on the southern border of Yellowstone National Park”. The authors provided with information that grizzly populations in Yellowstone may suffer inbreeding, which could lead to the extinction of the Yellowstone Ecosystem’s distinct grizzly population. Illegal lake trout introduction in Yellowstone National Park has significantly reduced populations of Yellowstone cutthroat trout, a traditional high-value grizzly food source. Add to that the drastic die-off of whitebark pines due to global warming, which has significantly reduced production of their seeds which are another high nutrition traditional food source for the bears.

Let's us think before we make another step!