Stop spring bear hunting in Ontario!

https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-1112

Please speak out against the proposal to expand the Ontario Spring Bear Hunt from a pilot project (which ends this year), to an annual event from May 1st to June 15th. The only slight reduction of the hunt would be in the Bruce Peninsula, where the hunt would be from May 1 to May 7th.

Hunting bears, especially in May, put mothers and cubs at the highest risk. Although the proposal says mothers seen with cubs would be protected, this would not protect cubs from being orphaned. Cubs are often hidden by vegetation, and males and females are not easy to tell apart.

The Ontario government also wants to change rules so hunters do not have to report whether they hunt in spring or fall. This would make it much harder to study the impacts the hunt has on the bear population.

Please release information to the public about the impact the spring bear hunt has had on people, bears, and other wildlife.

Allowing businesses have a "licence to provide bear hunting services", and allow hunters to hunt without working through a "licensed bear operator" could create trophy hunting opportunities. Trophy hunting removes the Bears who are strongest and most likely to breed. Please do not bring back the Spring Bear Hunt, and please ban trophy hunting.

Please instead increase humane bear education on non lethal human bear coexistence.

Currently, in Ontario, Canada, bear hunters can not bait bears within 500 metres of a home without the homeowners permission. Hunters can not currently bait bears within 500 metres of any public building. Hunters can not bait bears currently within 200 metres of a road or hiking trail. 

The current government wants to keep the 500 metre restrictions from baiting near buildings, but wants to allow bear baiting within 30 metres of hiking trails and roads. This is cruel to the bears, and it encourages bears near roads and hiking trails.

We would like the Province of Ontario to ban bear baiting outright. We would like the spring bear hunt permanently banned. We would like the province of Ontario to mandate that all municipalities have a humane, non lethal bear program. We would like all municipal animal services and rehabilitation centres to be able to humanely live capture and relocate bears in human conflict situations p 24/7 without having to obtain a relocation permit each time.

We would like a ban on anyone killing bears with no permit simply because the bear is damaging or destroying property, comes into conflict with domestic animals, or becomes trapped in a building. There are humane, non lethal solutions to these challenges.