Bear Wise could have saved bear: researcher

• The fatal shooting of a black bear by police in Newmarket has sparked outcry from animal activists and a renewed call to reinstate a spring bear hunt.

However, one expert says the additional bear hunt would not have prevented the tragedy or the perceived danger to the public — but rebuilding Ontario’s diminished bear patrol could.

The program, officially called Bear Wise, offers Ontarians a toll-free number to report nuisance bears and has specialists who, unlike police, know how to tranquillize bears. But Bear Wise was gutted in the 2012 austerity budget. Public education programs were cancelled and staff was cut from 48 officers in 25 communities to 21 in 15, said Michael Commito, a PhD candidate at McMaster University studying the history of blackbear management in Ontario. He said the cuts to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) also affected blackbear tracking in Ontario.

“I think the MNR really needs to take a look at the coordination of these efforts,” Commito said, adding that communities in the north are addressing the problem in the absence of provincial leadership.

The ill-fated bear was spotted in Newmarket neighbourhoods over the weekend but it took until Monday for the ministry to respond. By the time MNR personnel were ready to act, the bear had been shot dead by police.

Commito rejected the idea that the spring bear hunt should be reinstated. Advocates say the growing number of bear sightings is proof they need to be culled. He said that’s simply not the case: Estimates suggest there are between 85,000 and 105,000 black bears in Ontario, about the same number as in 1999.

Timmins-James Bay MP Gilles Bisson said there were two incidents involving bears in Timmins last week.

“The unfortunate reality is: the police are being called to shoot bears when it used to be that the MNR would come in and either encourage bears to leave or trap them,” the New Democrat said.