Eldon Hawton
email: eldon@friends-of-fur.org
PO Box 13
Powassan
Ontario Canada
P0H 1Z0

The Editor
The North Bay Nugget
259 Worthington St. W.,
Box 570
North Bay Ontario
P1B 8J6

July 13, 2004

The Editor:

Re: "Nuisance bears bigger problem than usual this year" The Nugget, Thursday, July 8th 2004.

You simply cannot stockpile wildlife it is that simple. Make no mistake about it, Ontario's bear "population density" has clearly exceeded the carrying capacity of the land and it will get worse, much worse!

Re: J.J Beechie's (MNR) unqualified statement that; "In some areas of the province, the population has been stable or even dropped. There are about 100,000 bears across the province." When it is necessary to shoot bears close to Hamilton as was reported in the news last week, I think it is fair to say that in some areas of the province the bear population has "increased" dramatically perhaps 100%.

It takes five to six years for female bears to have cubs, so this accounts for why we have yet to see the real effects of "increased population density" due to the cancellation of the spring bear hunt. We are now just entering the period when the numbers of females bearing cubs will begin to compound upward as the years unfold.

The Nugget reports that; "Last month, the Ontario government announced it would spend $900,000 on the Bear Wise program to support community based bear prevention and public education campaigns. Such as buying bear-resistant garbage containers and landfill fencing.

Such programs have been extremely effective in helping residents deal with bear problems, said Barry Kent MacKay, director of the Animal Alliance of Canada in Toronto."

Hungry bears invading urban areas in search of something to eat are "symptoms of problems" due to the spring hunt cancellation. Too many bears; without an adequate year after year food supply and bears loosing their fear of man.

Listening to advice championed by (animal-rights experts) like Barry Kent Mackay from Toronto, the Ontario Government is clearly not addressing the problem.

The problem is hungry bears becoming a nuisance and a threat to man, when they invade urban space looking for food. How then can any effective solution be relevant when it includes further cutting off the bear's food supply, by fencing in landfill sites and buying bear resistant garbage cans?

I'd rather see bears eating garbage in landfill sites than in urban settings stalking us humans with a hungry look in their eyes and sadly before our government smartens up it may just come to that.

Sincerely,

Eldon Hawton

Friends-of-Fur.org

Former member of OMBAAC, 
(Ontario Moose & Bear Allocation Advisory Committee 1997-2003)