I strongly oppose the…

I strongly oppose the reinstatement of the spring bear hunt and believe any future hunts should be permanently cancelled.

It has been observed that “nuisance bear occurrences increased in the first two years of the spring bear hunt in most districts where it was allowed in 2014 and 2015.” (Nuisance bear incidents increased with spring bear hunt, Toronto Star, April 26, 2016.)

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2016/04/26/nuisance-bear-inc…

Also, it has been established that the biggest threat to bear populations during the spring bear hunt is the killing of nursing females. Tom Beck is a former bear biologist from the Colorado Division of Wildlife. He has spoken about his research and the problems associated with spring bear hunting.

“The biggest issue is the killing of nursing female black bears. There is no way to prevent this from happening in a spring bear season, either through hunter education or timing of season. …The conclusion of most biologists is that it is quite difficult to accurately determine nursing status on free-ranging black bears, even when a bear is not in a tree or at a bait. The appearance of nursing females in the kill each spring supports this notion. Proponents of spring hunting usually point out that most states protect females with cubs by regulation. The regulation looks good on paper but is very difficult to implement in the field because of bear behavior.” (Beck et al – “Sociological and Ethical Considerations of Black Bear Hunting” from the Proceedings of the Western Black Bear Workshop. Pages 119-131 published in 1995.)

The recreational killing of wildlife is antithetical to the values of contemporary society. The majority of Ontario residents do not hunt and it is poor public policy to allow defenseless wildlife to be used as moving targets. So-called blood sports are no sport at all and there is no benefit to the resumption for public safety. For these reasons, it makes no sense to allow the killing of bears in the spring. Doing so is only a politically motivated decision and not one based on science or the public interest and is thus indefensible.