Denton, the Rescued Bear CubPhoto: Bear with Us
It was a bad decision by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne to reopen Ontario’s spring bear hunt, representing the crass politics of killing bears for votes. Hunting does not reduce the likelihood of human/bear interactions.[teaserbreak]
While female bears are supposedly protected in the spring, in fact they are not. It is often impossible to know when female bears have dependent cubs. Some cubs, invariably, are left to die. In the fall hunt, females can be shot regardless of whether they have dependent young. Cubs usually stay with their mothers for about 17 months and, in the fall, cubs would be just eight to nine months old. Fall orphaning often results in a protracted death for the cubs, as they slowly starve over the winter.
Bears may be hit by cars, hit by trains, or shot in defense of property. But, the greatest cause of death is hunting. Often, a cub orphaned by the hunt—or some other cause—will die without human aid, thus raising serious questions about the ethics of hunting bears.
Denton, a black bear born last January (pictured above), arrived at Bear With Us, a sanctuary and licensed bear rehabilitation facility, on July 22, weighing just over 16 lbs. He was found with two siblings at the body of his mother, whose cause of death is as yet unknown, though there is no sign that she was shot. Mysteriously, she was emaciated, and yet the nursing cubs were in good flesh. She had nursed them as she, herself, was starving.
Denton owes his life to the hard-working, compassionate staff of the District of Timmins office of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF), both for his initial rescue and for the long drive to meet up with Mike McIntosh, founder of Bear With Us. MNRF manages Ontario’s bear hunt.
The cubs were found orphaned in the heart of central Ontario’s bear country. The Timmins MNRF staff are, as I write, working hard to find Denton’s two siblings, a difficult and often unrewarding and unsuccessful task. Thanks to their dedication, they are nonetheless making the effort.
Ontario’s government has removed funding from its world-renowned Bear Wise Program, which helped people cope with bears, as is essential given that most of the province contains viable black bear habitat. Human numbers and encroachment on prime bear habitat is relentless. The Bear Wise Program was essentially axed when the spring hunt was reintroduced.
Municipalities too often fail to enact and enforce regulations against bear attractants, like unprotected garbage and summer bird feeders. Police often have to respond where bears appear in residential communities, and often get blamed if the bear is shot, although they lack MNRF’s expertise in humane resolutions to bear encounters.
Premier Wynne should stop pitting bears against communities for political gain and fund the Bear Wise Program. Those of us who advocate for bears thank the MNRF staff for their good work and for going above and beyond the call of duty. We appreciate the work done by those within the MNRF who promote the notion of coexistence with wildlife.
Keep Wildlife in the Wild,
Barry