Opinion: California’s Bears Are at Risk — It’s Past Time to Pause Hunting Them

Wildlife face unprecedented hardships, notably in California. Contemplating habitat loss from steady city sprawl, leisure looking, catastrophic wildfires, and record-breaking droughts, it’s extra essential than ever that we have now a robust understanding of what our wildlife populations are in order that we will adequately monitor which of them could be in bother and implement options.

That is the central concern being thought of in a petition pending earlier than the California Fish and Sport Fee. Submitted by the Humane Society of the USA, the petition asks the fee to position a moratorium on the state’s annual bear looking season till our wildlife company, the Division of Fish and Wildlife, can formally examine the inhabitants and assess the results that drought, wildfire, and different climate-related occasions have on bears’ survival.

Presently, DFW permits hunters to kill as much as 1,700 bears yearly in our state. Nonetheless, regardless of report numbers of bear hunters, the variety of bears really killed annually is on a downward trajectory. Whereas this appears like excellent news for bears, it might really be indicative of a possible inhabitants decline.

In DFW’s most not too long ago printed “Bear Take Report,” the company states that their 2020 estimated bear inhabitants is roughly 9,700-22,000 — a big lower from the beforehand reported 30,000-40,000 estimate the company had marketed. Moreover, this determine is calculated utilizing a inhabitants mannequin that didn’t make the most of field-based scientific examine.

We’re at the moment experiencing the worst megadrought in additional than 1,200 years — and scientists consider it can proceed. In 2021 alone, a report 3 million acres burned in California, together with in outdated progress forests — due to historic gasoline construct up from a long time of fireplace suppression.

Gas build-up coupled with hotter, drier summers resulted in extreme fires that even scorched soils, a lot of which was very important bear habitat and journey corridors. Ravenous bears, notably moms with cubs, have been struck on roadways final yr in report numbers.

The discrepancy in inhabitants numbers is exactly why the moratorium on the bear hunt is so mandatory. If bear populations have been secure, and even rising as some declare, report numbers of hunters would logically result in elevated numbers of bears killed. As a result of the precise reverse is occurring, science and the precautionary precept inform us we should step again and check out what’s occurring earlier than persevering with to permit tons of of bears to be killed for recreation.

DFW should conduct a complete statewide inhabitants examine, utilizing the perfect accessible science. And the dire threats from the local weather disaster should be factored in as properly.

Using this precautionary strategy comes with minimal threat, and heavy payoff if we will guarantee our wildlife — particularly on this case, bear — populations usually are not in bother.  The identical can’t be mentioned for the choice.

Bears are terribly gradual to breed. Moms don’t start to have cubs till they’re roughly 4-5 years outdated, after which give beginning solely each 2-3 years as a result of they spend extended durations of time elevating their cubs.

Due to this, they’re extremely vulnerable to overkill as they are often killed in numbers far better than they’ll make up for with new births and migrating animals. Bears have already disappeared from about 70% of their historic vary due to people.

For many “recreation” species (i.e., wildlife who could be legally hunted) in California, DFW places collectively complete administration plans that present a wide range of info together with the inhabitants standing of the species, the standing of their habitat, sources of mortality, and so on. But California has not up to date their Black Bear Administration Plan in additional than 20 years.

Why has the company waited so lengthy to replace its plan? And why is it persevering with to kill greater than 1,000 bears yearly with out updating the science behind the plan?

In gentle of this, it’s merely ludicrous to hold on with “enterprise as ordinary,” with out doing the work to collect the entire info we want. We will’t simply bury our heads within the sand relating to long-lasting impacts to any species — particularly not with such important ecosystem actors as bears.

I strongly urge the fee to grant the petition that may place a mandatory pause on leisure bear looking till — on the very least — DFW research the bear inhabitants, updates their decades-old administration plan, and the results of drought and up to date wildfires on our bears are adequately assessed.

Mission Valley resident Kym Bower is a humane coverage volunteer chief for the Humane Society of the USA.

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