The Baltimore Sun
October 31, 2003

A bear necessity?
A hunting season in Md. wouldn't prevent conflicts

By Michael Markarian

   IN THE past 50 years, much has changed in Maryland. But one thing has
remained the same - the state's small population of black bears has been
protected from trophy hunting. This may soon change, as Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich
Jr. and the Department of Natural Resources have just proposed a bear hunting
season for 2004.

   A bear hunt, however, would provide no relief to the citizens in Western
Maryland who want concrete solutions to bear conflicts. It may be
psychologically soothing, but shooting bears at random does not target the
individual bears causing problems and does not address conflicts with surviving
bears. It's like trying to reduce crime by shooting into a crowded room.

   There is no scientific evidence even suggesting that reducing the number of
bears would correlate with reducing the number of conflicts. The conflicts
fluctuate depending on the annual food availability for bears, the number of
people living and vacationing near bear habitat and the aggressiveness of public
education regarding ways to minimize encounters with bears. The assumption that
a bear hunt would reduce bear conflicts is a faulty one.

   While hunting bears would not solve bear problems, it might make those
problems worse. In states where bears are hunted, hunters tend to take large,
adult male bears from the population, leaving the juvenile males more room to
expand their range. It is these young males who are more likely to cause
problems at homes, campsites and farms. Hunting is not a solution to a problem,
but a commitment to a permanent problem.

   In fact, it was a young male bear that killed an infant in New York's
Catskill region in August 2002 - a tragedy that has been used by bear hunting
proponents as a rallying cry for their cause. New York has a very aggressive
bear hunting season, which apparently did not prevent that tragic incident but
may have facilitated it. The real safety threat is not the bears, but rather the
armed hunters who would stalk a few hundred bears in Maryland's forests.

   Instead of placing people and bears in danger, we should use and expand the
effective, nonlethal techniques to prevent bear conflicts and agricultural
damage. Aversive conditioning with rubber pellets and scare tactics can teach
bears to behave better. Public education can teach homeowners and vacationers to
store food and trash properly and prevent attracting bears. Cooperative
extension programs can provide assistance to farmers and electric fencing
materials to beekeepers. These techniques should be the cornerstone of any
program to reduce bear conflicts. And if they are not enough, they should be
expanded and better funded.

   Moreover, the DNR does not have the biological data necessary to justify a
bear hunting season. With only 266 to 437 black bears estimated to exist in
Maryland, any hunt or lethal control program could cause significant damage to
the bear population. This should be of serious concern, considering that the
number of adult female productive bears is far lower than the total population
estimates, and that bears are one of the slowest-reproducing mammal species in
North America.

   DNR biologists told a citizen task force on black bears last year that
Maryland's bear population could sustain a hunt, but they could not provide any
data to substantiate that opinion. When asked to provide data, the DNR responded
that neighboring states such as Pennsylvania can sustain a bear hunt, so
Maryland must be able to sustain one, too. Comparing a state such as
Pennsylvania, which has 15,000 bears, to a state such as Maryland that has a few
hundred bears is scientifically flawed at best and intentionally misleading at
worst.

   Black bears were nearly extinct in Maryland only 50 years ago. It is a
testament to the successful environmental and habitat conservation programs in
Maryland that this unique, majestic species has been able to make a comeback.
Maryland citizens should be proud of this environmental heritage and protection
of this remarkable species, and a hunting season on black bears would turn back
the clock on a half-century of success.

   Hunters have no shortage of targets here in Maryland. Governor Ehrlich and
the DNR should maintain Maryland's 50-year tradition of bear protection, and
should keep black bears off the trophy list.

   Michael Markarian is president of the Fund for Animals, which is based in
Silver Spring.

© 2004 The Baltimore Sun