I live in a rural area of…

I live in a rural area of Ontario and enjoy the beauty of nature that surrounds me every day and that includes black bears. I am very concerned about the proposal to allow spring bear hunts again. It is inevitable that bear cubs will to be orphaned if the hunt becomes permanent. Even though it is currently against the law to kill cubs and mother bears accompanied by cubs, past experience clearly demonstrates that mother bears often leave their cubs in trees while searching for food. If a mother is killed, her cubs will likely die slowly of starvation or be devoured by predators.

Then there are those that believe hunting bears might improve human safety. We humans like to think we have superior intelligence when compared to wildlife, so lets use it and come up with better ways to deal with bear related problems for which we are responsible and have directly caused. A more common sense and humane approach would be to avoid human-bear encounters by removing access to garbage, smelly BBQs, and other possible attractive items.

We live near Bear With Us Sanctuary and are grateful for their tremendous efforts regarding not only the well being of bears, but the general public as well. Their mission is to encourage an appreciation, understanding and respect for bears through education, action and by direct example. A spring bear hunt goes against all that this organization stands for.

Now some will also say that the spring bear hunt is good for the economy - brings in hunters who spend lots of $$ here while pursuing their goal of killing a bear. Yet there does not seem to be any strong evidence that a spring bear hunt has genuine economic benefits. And ultimately, if we kill off all our bears or reduce the population to the point where it is endangered, what will it cost us to try to revitalize it. After all, many areas of Ontario are known for their natural beauty and wildlife that can be observed and appreciated. Do we want to be responsible for tampering with that?