Return of bear hunt called for

THUNDER BAY—

Citing a jump in the number of encounters with bears this year, conservation groups want the province to re- evaluate its Bear Wise program and reinstate a spring hunt in 2006. John Kaplanis, president of the Thunder Bay- based Northwestern Ontario Sportmen’s Alliance, said the ministry’s current management strategy for bear population growth is ineffective, mainly because the two- year- old Bear Wise plan is aimed at managing people, not bears. “NOSA has long maintained that nothing but a full return to a spring bear hunting season is what Ontario needs to fully manage the growing population of black bears,” Kaplanis said.

“ The Bear Wise program has been money well wasted,” said Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters spokesman Robert Pye.

While the province has spent more than $10 million educating people about black bears and setting up a reporting hotline, Pye said there’s been a 500 per cent increase in the number of nuisance bear complaints since the hunt was cancelled in 1999.

Calls to the Bear Wise hotline, requiring a response by ministry staff, jumped 18 per cent to 10,305, compared with last year’s 8,734 calls.

Natural Resources spokeswoman Jolanta Kowalski said the majority of the calls came from the northeastern and central part of the province. The ministry funded 98 community projects aimed at preventing encounters with bears, and provided new educational tools to schools so that children are aware of how to avoid bears.

During debate at the Ontario Legislature last month, northern Ontario members from all three parties unanimously approved a resolution calling on the government to do whatever is necessary to protect Ontario residents from bears.