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Farmer shoots two nuisance bears
Espanola man says the provincial government should never have cancelled the spring bear hunt
By Ben Leeson/For The Sudbury Star
Thursday, May 29, 2003 - 11:00
Local News - In the last two weeks, Espanola-area farmer Art Aubrey says he has had to kill two nuisance bears because their population has exploded since the cancellation of the spring bear hunt in 1999.
“I’ve never seen so many bears around,†he said. “The last two years have been very bad.
“I’ve already seen 15 already this year near my property. We’re really overpopulated by bears right now.â€
Last week, Aubrey shot and killed a bear he said was threatening his beef cattle. On Tuesday night, he was called upon to do the same for his neighbour.
“The bear was near his cattle,†said Aubrey, adding he has lost young calves to bears in the past. “The dog was going crazy barking and the bear was scaring the daylights out of the cattle.
“Even when my neighbour yelled at the bear, it wouldn’t take off. He doesn’t own a gun, so he called me over and I shot it.â€
Aubrey said he thinks he is having problems with bears because hunters are no longer coming from the United States to take part in a spring bear hunt.
“Without the Americans coming up to hunt them, they’re out of control,†he said. “They shouldn’t have gotten rid of the hunt, because now there are so many around they can’t find enough to eat and they have to go looking for something.â€
Aubrey said he had contacted the local offices of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and was given clearance to shoot problem bears.
“They said if no one from the ministry was around, then shoot them,†he said. “They’re pretty short-handed over there anyway.â€
The Ontario Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act allows landowners to kill bears that have caused damage to their property, or are about to.
They must, however, notify the ministry that they have done so.
“It should be clear that it was an issue of a bear that was a danger to the landowner’s property,†said Carole Trepanier, information specialist for the ministry in Sudbury. “That’s why you have to call the MNR and give notice, so we can see that all other options have been considered before killing.â€
Bears who are not an immediate threat are usually taken alive by local nuisance bear control officers, to be released further from human settlement.
Last September, Natural Resources Minister Jerry Ouellette called for a review committee on nuisance bears. One of the committee’s purposes is to study how Ontario’s bear population has been affected by the cancellation of the spring hunt.
Trepanier said the committee should be prepared to release its findings by the end of the year.
That is not soon enough for Aubrey.
“I sure would love to see them bring back the hunt,†he said. “If they don’t, I think I might have to go put a bear in a cage, take it down to (Ontario Premier) Ernie Eves and drop it off in his backyard — maybe a sow wth cubs.â€
http://www.thesudburystar.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=33351&catname=Local+News
Espanola man says the provincial government should never have cancelled the spring bear hunt
By Ben Leeson/For The Sudbury Star
Thursday, May 29, 2003 - 11:00
Local News - In the last two weeks, Espanola-area farmer Art Aubrey says he has had to kill two nuisance bears because their population has exploded since the cancellation of the spring bear hunt in 1999.
“I’ve never seen so many bears around,†he said. “The last two years have been very bad.
“I’ve already seen 15 already this year near my property. We’re really overpopulated by bears right now.â€
Last week, Aubrey shot and killed a bear he said was threatening his beef cattle. On Tuesday night, he was called upon to do the same for his neighbour.
“The bear was near his cattle,†said Aubrey, adding he has lost young calves to bears in the past. “The dog was going crazy barking and the bear was scaring the daylights out of the cattle.
“Even when my neighbour yelled at the bear, it wouldn’t take off. He doesn’t own a gun, so he called me over and I shot it.â€
Aubrey said he thinks he is having problems with bears because hunters are no longer coming from the United States to take part in a spring bear hunt.
“Without the Americans coming up to hunt them, they’re out of control,†he said. “They shouldn’t have gotten rid of the hunt, because now there are so many around they can’t find enough to eat and they have to go looking for something.â€
Aubrey said he had contacted the local offices of the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and was given clearance to shoot problem bears.
“They said if no one from the ministry was around, then shoot them,†he said. “They’re pretty short-handed over there anyway.â€
The Ontario Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act allows landowners to kill bears that have caused damage to their property, or are about to.
They must, however, notify the ministry that they have done so.
“It should be clear that it was an issue of a bear that was a danger to the landowner’s property,†said Carole Trepanier, information specialist for the ministry in Sudbury. “That’s why you have to call the MNR and give notice, so we can see that all other options have been considered before killing.â€
Bears who are not an immediate threat are usually taken alive by local nuisance bear control officers, to be released further from human settlement.
Last September, Natural Resources Minister Jerry Ouellette called for a review committee on nuisance bears. One of the committee’s purposes is to study how Ontario’s bear population has been affected by the cancellation of the spring hunt.
Trepanier said the committee should be prepared to release its findings by the end of the year.
That is not soon enough for Aubrey.
“I sure would love to see them bring back the hunt,†he said. “If they don’t, I think I might have to go put a bear in a cage, take it down to (Ontario Premier) Ernie Eves and drop it off in his backyard — maybe a sow wth cubs.â€
http://www.thesudburystar.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=33351&catname=Local+News