The Big Debate: Should there be a spring bear hunt?

Many people are not aware that before 1961 black bears were considered vermin and shot under a bounty system. It was the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters that lobbied for them to be recognized, managed, and valued as a game species.

The most important consideration with any wildlife management decision is that it results in healthy wildlife populations into the future. Only hunting seasons that are sustainable should be supported. Fortunately, we know from the spring bear hunt pilot project, which has been ongoing since 2014, that Ontario’s bear population can support both spring and fall hunting seasons.

Since black bears are a long-lived species that reproduces slowly, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) has determined that only about 10 per cent of the province’s bear population, which numbers between 85,000 and 105,000 bears, can be sustainably harvested each year.

Even if we assume that the bear population is at the lower end of that range, the total annual harvest has been below 10 per cent for all years of the spring pilot. Furthermore, the MNRF has invested in state-of-the-art bear population monitoring and requires mandatory bear hunter reporting, giving them the tools needed to monitor the harvest and address any sustainability concerns if they arise.

A common claim about the spring hunt is that hunters are orphaning high numbers of cubs, however, a combination of bear behaviour, hunter training and hunting regulations make this an extremely rare event.

First, female black bears do not produce their first litter until they are at least five years of age and, because the offspring remain with the female until they are 16 to 18 months old, cannot produce litters more frequently than every other year. This means that only a small proportion of female bears have cubs in any given year.

Second, female bears with cubs are relatively sedentary in the spring, moving less and avoiding areas like baiting sites, where they may encounter other bears. This makes females with cubs less susceptible to hunting.

Third, hunters are trained to know their target and it is illegal to shoot a cub or a female with cubs during the spring season. Doing so carries some of Ontario’s most significant wildlife penalties — up to $25,000 in fines and/or a year in jail.

Combined, these three points are extremely effective at avoiding the orphaning of cubs by hunters. Over the course of the spring bear pilot, conservation officers with the MNRF have laid no charges for shooting a cub or female with cubs during the spring season, despite significant enforcement effort.

A comprehensive study from Manitoba, which has a spring hunt similar to Ontario’s, found that the number of cubs orphaned by hunters was less than 2 per cent of the number of cubs that die annually of natural causes.

In reality, many factors besides hunting can lead to an orphaning: abandonment by the female due to limited milk supply, human disturbance at the den site, the death of the female in vehicular or nuisance-related incidents, and cannibalism of the female by other bears. Of all of these factors, hunting is the only one with laws in place to prevent orphaning.

Despite this, we still hear claims that hunters are responsible for all orphaned cubs. One commonly repeated reason is that female bears may cache their cubs while foraging, therefore a hunter who encounters the female does not know she has cubs.

The Manitoba study directly looked into this by examining the reproductive tracts of hunter-harvested bears and their estimate of less than 2 per cent would capture cases where this might have happened. So even though tree-caching leading to orphaning is a good story, it is not supported by scientific evidence.

Our very best evidence shows that bear hunting, including the spring hunt, is sustainable and provides benefits to both the people of Ontario and the bears themselves. For these reasons, we should continue to have a spring bear hunt in Ontario.

Dr. Keith Munro is a wildlife biologist with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters.

The best way of being kind to bears is not to be very close to them, Margaret Atwood has written. The other best way is not to shoot them, especially not in spring when mothers and new cubs are emerging from hibernation. And when one bullet can kill an entire family.

The Ontario government views bears as living resources. About 4,000 are killed in a spring hunt alone according to government figures, usually on low side of reality, and one-third are female. An estimated 270-plus cubs are orphaned, and most die of starvation, predation or exposure. During the fall hunt season many more mothers are killed, leaving first-year cubs on their own to get along as best they can.

Two decades ago intense public pressure forced an end to the controversial spring hunts. But over time the government has been edging back into the woods. Now the Ford administration and its appetite for rural votes is planning to make the hunt permanent. Setting aside the hope that anyone with a heart would see the cruelty of leaving cubs without mothers, let’s look at the economic and political motives behind this.

Black bear hunting in Ontario generates an estimated $50.6 million annually with $13.8 million during spring hunts. If that sounds like a lot, consider tourism revenue from nonhunters is in the billions of dollars.

We are told some 7,000 bears are killed annually with 60 per cent taken in the spring. About 76 per cent of the total average annual kill is by non-residents, mostly Americans. If they are much more successful at getting bears it is because they go out with a licensed tourist bear operator.

THE BIG DEBATE: For more opposing view columns from Toronto Star contributors, click here.

The promotional ads often guarantee a trophy bear or a free trip next time. So it’s no surprise the big push for extended hunts is coming from the industry outfitters to ensure those lucrative bookings can be made well in advance.

The 1999 Ontario ban was received as a wake-up call by the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) and it urged outraged members to rally. In 2014 the Ontario Liberal government responded by renewing the spring hunt under the guise of a “pilot project.” The trial was expanded in 2016 and then extended to 2020. Now if hunters have their way Ontario will be back to the business of bear killing as usual this spring.

Killing mothers with cubs and killing cubs is illegal. But the reality is even experienced hunters can’t identify nursing mothers from males, nor distinguish between a cub and yearling. Bear biologists incidentally have the same problem.

A lone bear is no clue either as mothers typically stash their cubs while they go off to find food. A 2008 Ontario study with hunters found that even a suspended bait station forcing a bear to stand up was no help. Most hunters take the shot anyway.

The industry argues that male bears emerge from dens a couple of weeks earlier than females. This may or may not be the case in a warming climate but since most of the hunting takes place later in the season it is a moot point.

All bears in spring are less able to defend themselves because of weight loss during hibernation. Hunters also claim recreational killing of black bears manages problem bears. But the larger issue is how to manage problem people.

Incidents of bear aggression are few and far between and always connected to attractants, presence of dogs, or hiking/camping in bear country without precautions. In any case, the hunts and the bears killed are well removed from communities where conflict might occur.

We “manage” black bears for hunters like they grow on trees. But how accurate are the population estimates? Bears don’t fill out census forms and hunters are not good at participating in the bear premolar teeth submission program.

Increasingly, we are hearing of regional concerns that this so-called renewable resource, in fact sentient beings with concerns and responses not unlike our own, is dwindling. Black bear populations are sensitive to relentless killing due to late maturity, alternate year reproduction and low birth rates. Population growth rate is most affected by survival of adult females.

Two decades ago Ontario rejected the killing of bear mothers and orphaning of cubs in their first spring. We need to make our voices heard — again.

Judy Malone writes for Tourists Against Trophy Hunting, an international coalition of scientists, naturalists, journalists, and wildlife advocates.