I oppose changes to the…

I oppose changes to the black bear hunting regulations. Changes are not based on evidence

What we do know about the spring bear hunt is:

Most hunters are non-residents who hunt by baiting bears;
Many hunters at bait stations are unable to distinguish between male and female bears;
Female bears are killed, including nursing mothers;
Orphaned cubs – about five to six months old and typically weighing about five kilograms – starve to death or are killed by other predators;
Despite the threat of large fines, regulations prohibiting the killing of females accompanied by cubs are unenforceable.
Mother black bear leading her cub
Black bear and cub © Missy Mandel
No good reason to reinstate the spring bear hunt

There is no good reason to reinstate the spring bear hunt, but there are solid reasons not to. Northerner, Paul Filteau, explains:

“Bear tourism and the killing of animals by baiting isn’t hunting. It requires few hunting skills and little effort. A garbage can is put in the bush with various concoctions to attract bears close to where the tourist sits in a stand and can hopefully distinguish a sow from a boar … Further, the placing of bait in the bush conditions bears to human garbage and scent thereby reducing their natural fear of humans. The widespread spring bear baiting throughout Northern Ontario is the ideal boot camp for training nuisance bears.”

The government should end the pilot project and abandon the proposed changes