NRO Weekend, February 3-4, 2001
The Bear Facts
The misguided cancellation of Ontario’s spring black bear hunt.

By James A. Swan, Ph.D., the “Media Watch” columnist for
North American Hunter magazine.

bear rug lying on the floor in front of a fireplace conjures up all kinds of warm memories and fantasies. In order to have a bear rug, though, you first need a bear. Then someone must bag it. In the ursine family, the black bear is the most common. Wildlife biologists estimate that there are around 800,000 wild black bears in the world, all in North America. Traditionally, one of the most favored places to hunt bears on this continent is the Canadian province of Ontario, which has a population of well over 100,000 black bears. This spring, Ontario black bear hunting for rugs, meat, or trophies is forbidden, as it has been since 1999. The story of the cancellation of the Ontario spring black bear hunt holds important lessons for the future of wildlife management — among humans, as well as between humans and bears.

Until l960, bears were considered "vermin" in Ontario, and there has been a spring black bear hunt in Ontario for decades. Why a spring hunt? One reason is that it is actually sound conservation. When bruins come out of hibernation, they are hungry. Unless there has been a severe winter with lots of deer that have starved to death (a bear consumes mostly carrion in the spring), there will be little to eat for nearly two months. This means bears raiding dumps, garbage cans, and homes, as well as male bears (boars) killing and eating cubs, which also makes the females (sows) available for mating.

Spring bear hunting in Ontario has been conducted over bait — food scraps piled up by guides near hunter's stands. This may not seem as noble as the chase, but it actually allows for more careful consideration of the target before shooting.

Since l987, as an additional protection against orphaning young bears, it has been illegal to shoot sows with cubs. Sitting in a tree near bait, a hunter has time to study the incoming bears. If the cubs are present, they are usually close to the sow. Since a sow's head is smaller and narrower, sexing is also easier. Since l987, there has been only one case in Ontario of a hunter being convicted for illegally killing a sow with cubs.

On January 1, 1999, a new Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act was proclaimed law in Ontario. This law was developed through ten years of public and political discussions and study, during which time opposition to the spring bear hunt was considered and rejected. The new regulations contained provisions for a spring bear hunt. Two weeks before the new act became law, Ontario Minister of Natural Resources John Snobelen said publicly, "…the spring is, in many ways, the best time to hunt bears."

In the first week of January l999, Ontario Premier Mike Harris met with Toronto developer Robert Schad (sounds suspiciously like "chad"), whose Schad Foundation had spent $2 million to fight the annual spring bear hunt. On January 11, 1999, a revised Premier's Briefing Note from the Minister of Natural Resources stated that "…a decision has been made to close the spring bear hunt."

When angry hunters, guides, outfitters, and tourism operators challenged the ruling, they were told, "The government made the decision to end the spring bear hunt because it will not tolerate cubs being orphaned by hunters mistakenly shooting mother bears in the spring." That was the official line, but later Ted Chudleigh, parliamentary assistant to Minister Snobelen, admitted, "…the cancellation saved us five seats in the election."

The outdoor community of Ontario had good reason to be upset about the arbitrary and abrupt decision to cancel the spring bear hunt. An Ontario Ministery of Natural Resources' (MNR) study showed the economic bounty of the spring bear hunt from 1987-1998: a sales impact of $350 million to $500 million, 2,600 to 3,600 person years of employment, and 90,000 to 100,000 participants.

Prior to the cancellation, about 4,000 legal bears (males and females without cubs — approximately 30% females) per year were taken in the spring bear hunt. Around the time of the cancellation in January of l999, the Ontario bear herd was said to be about 100,000. After the cancellation, the MNR raised their estimate of the bear population by 50%, to be between 127,000 and 152,000.

Pro-Bear or Not Pro-Bear?
What has been the result of this 'humane" decision? Even the MNR admits, "It is not expected that this [decision to cancel the spring bear hunt] will have a significant long-term effect on the overall bear population." For the bears, it has spared the lives of some males, but they in turn have preyed more heavily on young cubs. Some biologists estimate that as many as 50% of all bear cubs die each spring, many killed and eaten by male bears. One study in Ontario concluded that when black bears are not hunted, cannibalism is three times higher, because sport hunting targets the large males. During cross-examination in the recent trial, an MNR expert bear biologist stated that as many as 1,000 more bear cubs would be orphaned and die as a result of increased cannibalism due to cancellation of the spring bear hunt.

Other studies have found that approximately 45,000 bears (one-third of the population) rely on hunter feeding stations each spring. Since the cancellation of the spring bear season, there has been no incentive to keep up those stations, which often provide the only source of protein and carbohydrates for bears for the first six weeks out of hibernation.

Where have all the hungry bears gone? According to a study sponsored by the Canadian Outdoor Heritage Alliance, nuisance bear reports have risen from 78 in 1998, to 634 in 1999 — when there was no spring bear hunt. These nuisance reports ranged from attacks on humans to damage to cabins, garbage can and auto rampages, and picnicker chases. Some of the nuisance bears were trapped and relocated, but others were shot and killed, all at the expense of taxpayers. These expenses placed a burden on a Ministry whose income was reduced with 8,000 to 10,000 fewer license-buying spring bear hunters. Municipal governments also had to pick up costs of some nuisance bears, and private citizens were told that if a nuisance bear was trapped for relocation on their property, they would have to pay for the bear trapper.

In addition, more bears on the prowl for food means more bears crossing the road. All across North America, is it estimated that one million vertebrate animals are struck by cars every day. While no research on road-kill bears is available, it seems likely that bear/auto accidents have increased since the closure.

The point is that the MNR is probably right that in the long-run cancellation of the spring bear hunt will probably not dramatically raise the bear population. Without hunters, cannibalism, starvation, automobiles, and poachers will pick up the slack. But do you call that humane wildlife management?

Man and bear have had a history of mutual predation dating back to the Paleolithic. Disrupting these kinds of ecological relationships is not to be taken lightly. Aside from anti-hunters who can gloat about swiping some hunter's bear rug, perhaps the only humans benefiting from the cancellation of the spring bear hunt are poachers. Bear gall bladders and other parts are sold in the black market for Oriental medicine. When a poacher takes a bear, they remove what they need quickly in the woods, leaving the bulk of the animal to rot. Game wardens are always scarce and a poacher's territory is vast.

The biggest factor limiting poaching, incidentally, is legal hunters, who witness and report poachers. Among the Indians who have hunted bears for thousands of years, disrespectful behavior toward an animal brings on the wrath of the gods. Animal rights activists say they are speaking on behalf of the animals, but I have yet to meet one who has consulted the spirit guardian of the bears. All around the world in regions where bears live, shamans who engage in such inter-species discourses assert that the bear god permits some hunting in exchange for respect shown by man in his methods of hunting and numbers of animals killed. This sounds like what was going on before the antis stepped in.

Bears in Court
This spring, instead of hunting bears, the hunters will be in the Ontario provincial courts. The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters are engaged in legal action to restore spring bear hunting. The pace of this case is slow. It has been going on since l999. As evidence of the merit of the OFAH challenge, the judges have recently decided that OFAH may subpoena both Premier Harris and Minister Snobelen to explain their actions. This is the first time that the premier and minister have ever been required to testify at this kind of proceeding.

The case is also unique in that OFAH is ultimately basing their claim on Section 2(b) of The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees the rights of freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and "expression." The OFAH argument says that hunting is natural, instinctual in man, a point supported by most behavioral scientists of the 20th century including Sigmund Freud, William James, Carl Jung, Erik Fromm, and Karl Menninger. This makes it an "expression." If OFAH wins, the decision will have far-reaching implications across Canada, and beyond. Meanwhile, inspired by their success in Ontario, anti-hunting groups are seeking bans on bear hunting in other Canadian provinces. Similar anti efforts are underway in the U.S.

On behalf of the hunters and fishermen in the U.S., there is a growing movement to make hunting and fishing a right. Some antis (who are called 99-50ers by locals up in the northland — 99% never get more than 50 feet from the road) say canceling hunting preserves the bears' rights. Considering the impact of banning the spring bear hunt in Ontario, one might wonder who are the real benefactors — the bears or the anti-hunting organizations who use the issue to raise money in the name of "protecting bears."

Bear Necessities
For more information, follow up with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, the Canadian Outdoor Heritage Alliance, and the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia (which offers outstanding free pamphlets on black and grizzly bear biology).